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REESE  LIBRARY. 

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I    UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA; 

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ENGLISH 


IN 


AMERICAN  UNIVERSITIES 


PROFESSORS    IN   THE    ENGLISH    DEPARTMENTS 

OF    TWENTY    REPRESENTATIVE 

INSTITUTIONS 


EDITED,  WITH  AN  INTRODUCTION, 

BY 

WILLIAM    MORTON    PAYNE 


XXNIVERSITT 

BOSTON,  U.S.A. 

D.    C.    HEATH   &   CO.,   PUBLISHERS 

1895 


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Copyright,  1895, 
By  D.  C.  Heath  &  Co. 


TYPOGBAI'HY  UY  C.  J.  PETKB8  &  SON,  BOSTON. 
FBESBWOBK  by  S.  J.  Paritwtt.t.  &  CO. 


PUBLISHER'S   NOTE. 


With  the  exception  of  the  articles  upon  Johns  Hopkins 
University  and  the  University  of  Minnesota,  the  contents  of 
this  volume  are  reprinted  from  The  Dial,  for  which  they 
were  originally  written,  and  in  which  they  appeared  during 
1894.  They  consist  mainly  of  a  series  of  twenty  articles 
upon  the  teaching  of  English  in  as  many  American  colleges 
and  universities,  prepared  in  each  tase  by  one  of  the  leading 
department  professors  of  the  institution  in  question ;  and 
of  an  appendix,  which  includes  a  few  communications  and 
discussions  germane  to  the  subject.  The  great  interest 
aroused  in  educational  circles  by  these  articles  has  made 
it  seem  desirable  to  republish  them  in  book  form.  The 
volume  has  been  edited  by  Mr.  William  Morton  Payne,  of 
The  Dial,  whose  editorial  articles  in  that  review  have  sup- 
plied the  basis  of  the  general  introduction  to  the  present 
work,  and  may  be  taken  as  representing  the  general  atti- 
tude of  The  Dial  towards  the  more  prominent  phases  of 
the  discussion. 


Digitized  by  tine  Internet  Archive 

in  2008  with  funding  from 

IVIicrosoft  Corporation 


http://www.archive.org/details/englishinamericaOOpaynrich 


CONTENTS, 


PAGE 

Publishers'  Note 3 

Contents 5 

Introduction •        *? 

The  Editor  of  the  Dial. 

The  Teaching  of  English. 

1.  Yale  University 29 

Albert  S.  Cook. 

2.  Columbia  College 40 

Brander  Matthews. 

3.  Harvard  University 44 

Barrett  Wendell. 

4.  The  Leland  Stanford,  Junior,  University      ...      49 

Melville  B.  Anderson. 

5.  Cornell  University 60 

Hiram  Corson. 

6.  The  University  of  Virginia 65 

Charles  W.  Kent. 

7.  The  University  of  Illinois 71 

Daniel  Kilham  Dodge. 

8.  Lafayette  College 74 

F.  A.  March. 

9.  The  University  of  Iowa 83 

Edward  E.  Hale,  Jr. 

10.   The  University  of  Chicago 86 

Albert  H.  Tolinan. 

5 


CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

11.  The  University  of  Indiana 92 

Martin  W.  Sajtipson. 

12.  The  University  of  California 99 

Charles  Mills  Gayley. 

13.  Amherst  College 110 

John  F.  Genung. 

14.  The  University  of  Michigan 116 

Fred  JSf.  Scott. 

15.  The  University  of  Nebraska 124 

L.  A,  Sherman. 

16.  The  University  of  Pennsylvania 130 

Felix  F.  Schelling. 

lY.   The  University  of  Wisconsin 135 

David  B.  Frankenburger. 

18.  Wellesley  College 141 

Katharine  Lee  Bates. 

19.  The  Johns  Hopkins  University 149 

James  W.  Bright. 

20.  The  University  of  Minnesota 155 

George  E.  MacLean. 

appendix. 

1.  English  in  Southern  Universities 163 

John  B.  Henneman. 

2.  English  Literature  in  a  French  University  .     .     .     167 

3.  A  Society  of  Comparative  Literature 173 

Charles  Mills  Gayley. 

4.  The  Study  of  English  Literature  from  the  Stand- 

point of  the  Student 175 

Charles  W.  Hodell. 

5.  Education  and  Literature 179 

Hiram  M.  Stanley. 


UNIVERSITY 

THE  TEACHING  OF  ENGLISH. 


INTKODUCTION. 

The  methods  employed  by  our  schools  in  the  teaching  of 
English  literature  have,  for  some  years  past,  been  in  a  tran- 
sition stage,  exhibiting  a  strong  tendency  towards  more  en- 
lightened ways  of  dealing  with  this  vastly  important  subject. 
The  fermentation  is  of  the  healthful  type,  and  a  fairly  clari- 
fied product  may  not  unreasonably  be  expected  to  result. 
When  Matthew  Arnold  declared  the  future  of  poetry  to  be 
immense,  he  expressed  a  truth  whose  full  significance  may  be 
realized  only  upon  considerable  reflection,  and  the  assump- 
tion of  a  broadly  philosophical  standpoint  from  which  to 
view  the  coming  conquests  of  culture.  The  same  idea  was 
expressed,  with  something  of  humorous  exaggeration,  by 
the  author  of  The  New  Repuhlic,  who  attributed  to  John 
Stuart  Mill  the  opinion  that  "when  all  the  greater  evils  of 
human  life  shall  have  been  removed,  the  human  race  is  to 
find  its  chief  enjoyment  in  reading  Wordsworth's  poetry." 
To  indicate  the  importance  of  a  due  appreciation  of  literature 
I  hardly  need,  upon  this  occasion,  to  repeat  the  hackneyed 
quotations  in  praise  of  books,  from  Richard  de  Bury  to  Mr. 
Euskin ;  it  may  surely  be  taken  for  granted  that,  allowing 
Arnold's  demand  on  behalf  of  conduct  for  a  good  three- 
fourths  of  our  life,  a  considerable  share  of  the  remaining 
fraction  may  be  claimed  for  literature.  But  if  literature  is 
to  count  for  so  much  among  our  higher  interests,  the  manner 

7 


8  THE  TEACHING  OF  ENGLISH. 

in  which  we  set  about  to  prepare  the  way  for  it  is  surely  of 
the  utmost  importance,  and  any  misdirection  of  energy  in  this 
preparation  means  an  almost  incalculable  loss. 

An  excellent  educational  method,  much  in  vogue  among 
the  more  progressive  of  modern  teachers,  is  based  upon  the 
principle  of  proceeding  from  the  near  and  the  familiar  to  the 
strange  and  the  remote.  It  is  a  method  that  may  be  pushed 
to  extremes,  but  it  is  fundamentally  sound.  In  geography, 
for  example,  a  child  starts  with  the  schoolhouse,  the  village, 
and  the  surrounding  country  made  familiar  by  his  wander- 
ings, and  afterwards  extends  to  scenes  unvisited  the  construc- 
tion thus  begun.  In  history,  the  happenings  of  the  day,  as 
narrated  in  the  newspapers  and  talked  about  at  home,  provide 
the  starting-point.  In  seeking  to  arrive  at  a  comprehension 
of  the  nature  of  government  and  the  organization  of  society, 
his  attention  is  first  directed  towards  the  town-meeting,  which 
he  has  possibly  seen  at  work ;  towards  the  policeman  or  the 
constable,  whom  he  has  learned  to  recognize  as  the  embodi- 
ment of  executive  authority  before  having  learned  the  mean- 
ing of  that  term,  or  towards  the  tax-collector,  about  whose 
visits  certain  ominous  associations  have  clustered,  before  the 
function  of  that  persona  non  grata  has  been  realized. 

Is  there  not  in  the  method  thus  illustrated  a  suggestion 
worth  putting  to  the  uses  of  literature  ?  May  not  the  young 
be  led  to  a  true  perception  of  literary  values  by  just  this 
process  of  smoothing  the  ways  that  lead  to  a  correct  taste, 
this  device  of  fitting  the  conscious  achievement  to  the  earlier 
unconscious  one  ?  Those  having  occasion  to  observe  young 
people  on  their  way  through  the  educational  mill  know  that 
literary  taste  and  a  genuine  delight  in  "  the  authors  "  are  not 
common,  that  they  are  the  exception  rather  than  the  rule. 
Yet  most  children  have,  in  the  earlier  stages  of  their  school 
life,  some  germ  of  literary  appreciation  that  needs  nothing 
more  than  careful  nurture  to  be  brought  to  flower  in  the  later 


xjniversitt) 

stages.  But  when  they  come  to  the  serious  study  of  litera- 
ture in  school  and  college,  it  presents  itself  to  them  as  a  part 
of  the  "  grind " ;  it  must  be  pursued  in  a  certain  prescribed 
way,  which  is  likely  enough  the  wrong  way ;  it  is  treated  as 
if  it  were  geometry  or  linguistics,  and  the  needs  of  the  indi- 
vidual are  lost  sight  of  in  the  application  of  the  system. 

It  seems  to  me  a  fundamental  principle  that  anything  like 
rigidity  in  the  methods  employed  for  the  teaching  of  litera- 
ture and  the  development  of  literary  taste  will  necessarily 
prove  fatal  to  success.  In  physics  or  in  philology,  the 
"  course  "  is  a  perfectly  rational  device ;  it  is  of  the  essence 
of  training  in  such  subjects  that  the  work  should  be  logical 
in  its  development.  The  path  of  least  resistance  is  in  them 
the  same,  or  nearly  the  same,  for  all  normally  constituted 
minds.  It  is  obviously  the  path  to  be  followed,  and  the 
treatment  of  a  class  en  bloc  becomes  not  only  possible  but 
desirable.  With  literature  the  case  is  very  different,  and  the 
path  of  least  resistance  must  be  discovered  for  each  indi- 
vidual separately.  The  imagination  is  a  wayward  faculty, 
and  atrophy  is  likely  to  follow  upon  the  attempt  abruptly  to 
divert  it  into  channels  other  than  those  it  listeth  to  seek. 
The  facts  of  literature  may  be  apprehended  by  the  intellect 
thus  constrained,  but  that  emotional  accompaniment  which 
makes  of  literature  a  personal  message  to  the  individual, 
which  enshrines  it,  along  with  music  and  religion,  in  the 
most  sacred  recesses  of  the  soul,  is  not  to  be  coerced.  Mere 
didactics  are  as  powerless  to  impart  the  message  of  literature 
as  they  are  to  impart  the  message  of  music  or  of  religion. 
The  reward  of  such  an  attempt  may  be  theology  or  counter- 
point, formal  rhetoric  or  literary  history ;  but  not  that  spir- 
itual glow  which  is  the  one  thing  worth  the  having,  that 
kindling  of  the  soul  which  comes,  perhaps  when  least  ex- 
pected, with  the  hearing  of  some  ineffable  strain,  or  the  read- 
ing of  some  lightning-tipped  verse. 


10  THE   TEACHING   OF   ENGLISH. 

There  are  many,  no  doubt,  poor  in  emotional  endowment, 
and  unresponsive  to  the  finer  spiritual  vibrations  aroused  by 
the  masterpieces  of  verbal  art,  to  whom  literature  has  hardly 
more  meaning  than  nature  had  for  the  yokel  of  Wordsworth's 
hackneyed  ballad.  To  one  of  this  class,  if  he  do  not  actually 
look  upon  Homer  from  the  standpoint  of  Zoilus,  or  share  in 
lago's  view  of  the  character  of  Othello,  it  is  at  least  true  that 
the  last  agony  of  Lear  is  nothing  more  than  the  death  of  an 
old  man  ;  for  him  the  solemn  passing  of  (Edipus 

"  To  the  dark  benign  deep  underworld,  alone  " 

is  only  a  sort  of  hocus-pocus  ;  and  his  ears  are  deaf  to  the 

"  Sudden  music  of  pure  peace  " 

wherewith  the  stars  seal  the  successive  divisions  of  Dante's 
threefold  song. 

But  even  for  such  as  these  the  case  is  not  altogether  hope- 
less. The  appeal  of  literature  to  the  human  soul  is  so  mani- 
fold that  it  must  find  in  every  nature  some  pipes  ready  to  be 
played  upon.  Dull  though  the  sense  may  seem,  it  is  at  some 
point  waiting  to  be  quickened.  For  literature  is  life  itself,  in 
quintessential  expression ;  how  then  can  it  fail,  in  some  of  its 
many  phases,  to  have  both  a  meaning  and  a  message  for  every 
human  being?  The  earliest  responsive  vibrations  may  be 
rudimentary  in  character,  and  combined  in  the  simplest  of 
harmonies.  The  heart  may  first  be  stirred  by  some  bit  of 
sentiment  that  would  be  accounted  cheap  by  a  refined  taste ; 
the  imagination  may  first  be  fired  by  some  grotesque  Mdrclien^ 
or  by  some  wildly  improbable  tale  of  romantic  adventure. 
The  ripest  literary  taste  has  such  beginnings  as  these,  and 
the  surest  appreciation  of  literature  is  built  upon  such  a  foun- 
dation. Between  the  child,  made  forgetful  of  his  surround- 
ings by  the  spell  of  Robinson  Crusoe  or  the  Arabian  Nights, 
and   the    man,    finding    spiritual   refreshment   in    Cervantes 


INTRODUCTION.  11 

or  Moliere,  renewed  strength  in  Milton,  or  solace  from  grief 
in  Tennyson,  there  is  no  real  break  ;  the  delight  of  the  child 
and  the  grave  joy  of  the  man  are  but  different  stages  of  the 
same  growth,  and  the  one  is  what  makes  possible  the  other. 
How  far  this  development  may  go  is  a  problem  to  be 
worked  out  for  each  individual  separately ;  and  there  are 
doubtless,  in  each  case,  distinct  limitations.  What  I  have 
sought  to  emphasize  is  just  this  individual  nature  of  the  prob- 
lem, and  the  fact  that  regimentation  offers  no  solution  that 
can  be  accounted  satisfactory^  The  approach  to  literature  is, 
in  our  current  educational  systems,  hedged  about  with  so 
many  thorny  obstructions,  that  not  a  few  young  persons  start 
bravely  upon  it  only  to  fall  by  the  way,  disheartened  at  sight 
of  the  forbidding  barriers  erected  by  historical,  linguistic,  and 
metrical  science,  for  the  purpose  of  taking  toll  of  all  way- 
farers. Whatever  the  usefulness  for  discipline  of  such  sub- 
jects, the  spirit  of  literature  is  not  to  be  acquired  by  making 
chronological  tables,  or  tracing  the  genealogies  of  words,  or 
working  out  the  law  of  decreasing  predication.  We  may  even 
sympathize  to  some  extent  with  those  who  so  revolt  from  all 
such  methods  as  to  refuse  literature  any  place  in  the  educa- 
tional scheme.  Turn  the  young  person  loose,  they  advise,  in 
a  well-stocked  library,  and  let  him  develop  his  own  tastes  in 
his  own  way.  He  Avill  make  mistakes,  they  admit ;  there  will 
be  false  starts  not  quickly  righted ;  but  there  will  be,  in  the 
long  run,  a  wholesome  development  of  taste,  and  a  steady 
ascent  to  higher  levels  of  appreciation.  In  any  case,  assimi- 
lation will  not  be  forced,  and  conventional  judgments  will  not 
be  made  to  parade  as  personal  convictions.  This  view  has 
the  one  great  merit  of  allowing  full  scope  to  individualism, 
but  to  admit  that  it  speaks  the  last  word  would  be  to  abandon 
altogether  the  position  that  educational  theory  is  bound  to 
maintain.  That  the  young  may  profit  by  the  guidance  of  the 
older  and  wiser  is  as  true  in  literature  as  it  is  in  any  other  of 


12  THE   TEACHING    OF   ENGLISH. 

the  great  intellectual  concerns.  But  the  needs  of  the  individ- 
ual must  be  recognized  as  they  are  not  now  recognized,  if  lit- 
erature is  to  play  its  proper  part  in  education.  Each  case 
must  be  made  the  subject  of  a  special  diagnosis  and  a  special 
prescription.  We  might  apply  to  this  problem  the  favorite 
formula  of  one  of  the  schools  of  modern  socialism  —  "From 
every  man  according  to  his  ability ;  to  every  man  according 
to  his  needs  "  —  although  it  is  curious  to  see  a  socialist  pre- 
cept doing  service  in  an  individualist  cause. 

While  college  and  university  English  is  the  special  sub- 
ject of  the  volume  to  which  these  pages  serve  as  an  intro- 
duction, it  seems  to  me  that  the  subject  of  elementary  and 
secondary  English  cannot  here  be  wholly  ignored.  The  sub- 
ject of  the  teaching  of  English  is  a  unity,  however  varied  the 
details  at  its  successive  stages,  and  it  is  truer  of  this  subject 
than  of  most  that  mistakes  made  in  the  earlier  years  are  diffi- 
cult, if  they  are  not  impossible,  of  subsequent  correction. 
The  English  Conference  named  by  the  famous  Committee  of 
Ten  on  Secondary  Education  soon  came  to  realize  these  facts, 
and  their  report  differed  noticeably  from  those  of  the  Confer- 
ences upon  other  subjects,  by  covering,  not  only  the  period  of 
secondary  education,  but  also  the  years  that  come  before. 
The  Report  of  that  Conference,  and  the  Harvard  Report  on 
Composition  and  Rhetoric,  made  public  a  year  or  so  earlier, 
are  responsible  for  much  of  the  recent  awakening  of  interest 
in  the  subject  of  English  instruction.  In  fact,  the  Harvard 
Report  may  be  said  to  have  given  to  the  reform  movement  its 
strongest  impulse,  and  made  a  burning  '^  question  of  the  day  " 
out  of  a  matter  previously  little  more  than  academic  in  its  in- 
terest. The  subject  was  made  to  reach  a  larger  public  than  it 
had  ever  reached  before,  and  this  new  and  wider  public  was 
fairly  startled  out  of  its  self-complacency  by  the  exhibit  made 
of  the  sort  of  English  written  by  young  men  and  women  sup- 
posed to  have  enjoyed  the  best  preparatory  educational  ad- 


INTRODUCTION.  13 

vantages,  and  to  be  fitted  for  entrance  into  tlie  oldest  and 
most  dignified  of  our  colleges.  The  report  was  more  than  a 
discussion  of  the  evils  of  bad  training;  it  was  an  object-lesson 
of  the  most  effective  sort,  for  it  printed  many  specimen  papers 
literatim  et  verbatim,  and  was  even  cruel  enough  to  facsimile, 
some  of  them  by  photographic  process. 

The  seed  of  discontent  having  thus  been  sown  broadcast, 
the  field  was  in  a  measure  prepared  for  the  labors  of  the  Eng- 
lish Conference  named  by  the  Committee  of  Ten  ;  and  the  Re- 
port of  that  Conference,  made  public  early  in  1894,  has  kept  /[/^ 
the  question  of  English  teaching  as  burning  as  ever,  if,  indeed, 
it  has  not  fanned  the  flame  into  greater  heat.  Not  only  the 
educational  periodicals,  but  also  many  published  in  the  inter- 
ests of  general  culture,  and  even  some  of  the  newspapers  — 
in  their  blundering  way  —  have  kept  the  subject  before  the 
public.  Educational  gatherings  have  devoted  to  it  much  of 
their  attention,  and  it  has  been  largely  taken  up  by  writers  for 
the  magazines. 

The  Conference  recommendations  for  the  eight  years  of 
instruction  in  elementary  English  are  substantially  as  follows  : 
For  the  first  two  years,  elementary  story-telling  and  the  de- 
scription of  objects ;  for  the  next  four,  the  use  of  reading- 
books,  the  beginnings  of  written  composition,  and  a  certain 
amount  of  informal  grammar ;  for  the  last  two  years,  formal 
grammar  and  reading  of  a  distinctly  literary  sort.  The 
"speller"  is  to  be  discarded  altogether,  and  the  "reader'' 
after  the  sixth  year.  T  wish,  indeed,  that  the  Conference  had 
gone  still  farther  in  the  latter  case  and  rejected  the  "reader" 
altogether.  There  is  little  to  be  urged  in  its  favor,  although 
it  has  long  been  the  main  reliance  of  elementary  education  in 
English.  The  important  principle  seems  to  be  that  nothing 
but  literature  should  be  read  at  all,  and  the  "'  readers  "  in  cur- 
rent use  certainly  contain  much  matter  that  cannot  by  any 
courtesy  be  called   literature.      This  criticism  is  altogether 


14  THE  TEACHING  OF  ENGLISH. 

apart  from  the  other  defect  of  scrappiness,  inherent  in  the 
plan  of  the  typical  reading-book.  Even  Mother  Goose,  as  Mr. 
Horace  Scudder  has  convincingly  argued,  is  a  sort  of  liter- 
ature, and  there  is  no  lack  of  other  substitutes  for  the  thin 
and  innutritions  pabulum  of  the  graded  (I  was  on  the  point  of 
writing  degraded)  books  called  "readers"  which  enterprising 
publishers  have  forced  upon  several  generations  of  over-com- 
placent school  authorities.  Moreover,  the  use  of  the  "  reader  " 
generally  means  wearisome  repetition  of  a  limited  amount  of 
matter,  whereas  a  rational  educational  method  would  demand 
very  little  repetition.  The  jaded  interest  with  which  a  hapless 
child  cons  the  familiar  and  well-thumbed  pages  is  fatal  to  that 
appreciation  of  literature  which  it  should  be  the  first  aim  of 
primary  education  to  encourage.  Why,  in  these  days  of  inex- 
pensive production  of  reading  matter,  should  a  child  be  forced 
to  peruse  the  same  pages  over  and  over  again  until  the  very 
sight  of  the  book  is  hateful  to  him  ?  Why  should  not  every 
day  bring  to  him  fresh  matter  for  the  stimulation  of  his  grow- 
ing intelligence  and  imagination  ? 

As  for  the  other  point  upon  which  I  would  insist,  the  readr. 
ing  of  nothing  that  is  not  worth  reading,  there  can  be  no  pos- 
sible excuse  for  the  kind  of  literary  gruel  that  is  too  commonly 
fed,  by  spoonfuls,  to  the  young.  When  we  consider  the  pecu- 
liarly receptive  quality  of  the  child's  mind,  the  retentiveness 
whose  loss  he  will  so  soon  have  occasion  to  mourn,  the  imagi- 
nation so  early  to  be  dulled  by  the  prosaic  years  to  come,  does 
it  not  seem  a  crime  to  make  of  these  faculties  or  powers  any- 
thing less  than  the  utmost  possible,  to  force  the  free  spirit 
into  ruts  and  waste  it  upon  inanities  ?  Having  at  hand  the 
ample  literature  which  gives  expression  to  the  childhood  of 
the  race,  the  literature  of  myth  and  fable,  of  generous  impulse 
moving  to  heroic  deed,  how  can  a  teacher  be  justified  in  sub- 
stituting for  this  the  manufactured  and  self-conscious  twaddle 
that  is  the  staple  of  most  modern  writing  for  children  ?    Even 


INTRODUCTION.  15 

for  the  very  youngest  who  can  read  at  all,  there  is  no  lack  of 
suitable  material.  And  when  a  more  advanced  stage  has  been 
reached,  there  is  the  whole  world  of  fairy  lore,  the  wealth 
of  religious  and  secular  story-telling,  the  inexhaustible  fund 
of  historical  incident,  all  of  which  must  be  included  in  the 
outfit  of  the  adult  mind,  and  much  of  which  is  better  acquired 
at  an  early  age  than  at  any  other.  The  child  who  has  grown 
up  in  ignorance  of  the  labors  of  Hercules  and  Siegfried's 
fight  with  the  dragon,  of  the  wanderings  of  Ulysses  and  the 
deeds  of  King  Arthur,  of  Horatius  at  the  bridge  and  Leonidas 
at  Thermopylae,  has  missed  something  that  cannot  be  given 
him  later,  and  may  justly  feel  himself  defrauded  of  a  part  of 
his  birthright.  The  sense  of  injury  is  only  aggravated  by 
finding  the  mind  filled  instead  with  lumber  worse  than  useless, 
with  recollections  of  the  worthless  stuff,  only  too  well  remem- 
bered, that  in  childhood  usurped  the  place  that  should  have 
been  filled  by  literature  carefully  selected  for  the  value  of  its 
form  or  of  its  subject-matter. 

In  dealing  with  its  subject  proper  —  the  subject  of  English 
in  secondary  schools  —  the  Report  of  the  Conference  makes 
a  number  of  highly  important  recommendations.  To  begin 
with,  a  demand  is  made  for  one-fourth  of  the  time  covered  by 
the  years  of  secondary  education.  Of  this  share  literature 
proper  should  get  rather  more  than  half,  the  rest  being  given 
to  composition,  rhetoric,  and  grammar  of  the  historical  or 
systematic  sort.  The  demand  for  a  full  fourth  of  the  secon- 
dary school  period  does  not  seem  to  me  excessive,  and  other 
reforms  may  well  wait  until  the  justice  of  this  claim  becomes 
generally  admitted.  Given  such  a  recognition  of  the  impor- 
tance of  secondary  English,  the  accomplishment  of  its  educa- 
tional purpose  must  follow  from  insistence  upon  a  few  simple 
and  well-understood  principles  rather  than  from  any  new 
devices  or  startling  innovations  of  method.  The  Report 
rightly  emphasizes  the  fundamental  importance  of  requiring 


16  THE  TEACHING   OF   ENGLISH. 

good  English  in  all  school  work,  whether  written  or  oral.  As 
long  as  slovenly  composition  is  allowed  to  pass  uncensured  in 
mathematical  or  natural  science  exercises,  as  long  as  slovenly- 
speech  is  tolerated  in  class  translations  from  foreign  lan- 
guages, the  case  remains  hopeless.  This  is  the  root  of  the 
matter,  and  other  reforms  are  of  minor  importance.  Theme- 
writing  in  the  English  classes  is  useful,  but  written  exercises 
in  all  the  classes  must  be  treated  as  themes,  and  bad  English 
in  a  mathematical  paper  must  count  against  it  no  less  than  bad 
logic.  Teachers  should  also  avail  themselves  to  the  utmost 
of  the  invaluable  comparative  advantages  offered  by  the  study 
of  whatever  ancient  or  modern  languages  are  being  pursued  at 
the  same  time  by  the  English  student.  The  Conference  was 
wholly  right  in  asserting  that  ^'  the  best  results  in  the  teach- 
ing of  English  in  high  schools  cannot  be  secured  without  the 
aid  given  by  the  study  of  some  other  language." 

In  secondary  education,  the  old-fashioned  treatment  of 
English  literature  found  its  embodiment  in  a  historical  text- 
book, to  be  learned  mostly  by  heart,  accompanied  sometimes 
by  a  hand-book  of  "  extracts,"  in  which  each  representative 
writer  received  an  allotment  of  two  or  three  pages.  Some- 
times the  history  and  the  "  extracts  "  were  jumbled  together, 
to  the  still  further  abridgment  of  the  latter.  The  better 
modern  method,  which  has  gained  much  ground  of  late,  con- 
centrates the  attention  upon  a  few  longer  works  and  their 
writers.  This  method  is  doubtless  an  advance  upon  the 
other,  yet  it  sometimes  means  a  reaction  carried  to  extremes. 
We  cannot  afford  to  eliminate  the  historical  text-book  alto- 
gether, but  we  do  need  to  have  the  right  kind  of  book  and  to 
use  it  with  intelligence.  For  the  book  that  gives  cut-and- 
dried  critical  formulas  —  a  too  prevalent  type  —  the  educator 
can  have  no  use.  What  he  wants  is  a  book  that  shall  stimu- 
late the  critical  faculty  in  the  student,  not  suppress  it  by 
supplying  criticism  ready-made.     To  direct,  but  not  to  force, 


INTRODUCTION.  IT 

opinion,  and  to  encourage  the  widest  range  of  independent 
reading,  sliould  be  the  aims  of  secondary  instruction  in  liter- 
ature. As  for  the  bare  facts  —  dates,  historical  conditions, 
and  the  like  —  they  must  be  learned  as  facts,  but  they  are  * 
not  all  as  lifeless  as  many  students  think  them,  and  a  judi- 
cious and  sympathetic  instructor  will  succeed  in  clothing 
many  of  them  with  such  associations  as  to  make  their  reten- 
fcion  a  easy  matter. 

The  greater  part  of  the  English  literature  work  done  in 
secondary  schools  ought,  of  course,  to  consist  in  reading  as 
many  whole  pieces  of  literature  as  it  is  possible  to  crowd  into 
the  time  allotted.  Since  no  two  classes  can  be  alike,  and  no 
two  teachers  ought  to  be  alike,  there  is  no  greater  mistake 
than  the  arrangement  of  a  Procrustean  course,  to  be  followed 
by  all,  and  repeated  year  after  year.  Whether  the  annual 
divisions  of  the  high-school  work  be  based  upon  literary 
periods  or  literary  forms,  or  graded  according  to  difficulty  of 
subject-matter,  there  should  be  within  each  year's  work  an 
almost  unbounded  latitude  for  the  display  of  the  instructor's 
individuality.  He  should  be  free  to  read  as  much  as  he 
chooses,  and  what  he  chooses,  and  in  whatever  way  he 
chooses.  To  impose  rigid  methods  upon  the  secondary 
teacher,  or  to  select  for  him  the  texts  which  he  shall  study 
with  his  classes,  is  an  act  of  sheer  and  utterly  unjustifiable 
arrogance. 

To  sum  up,  I  am  inclined  to  think  that  the  problem  of 
secondary  education  in  English  reduces  itself  to  getting 
teachers  who  know  good  literature  and  care  for  it,  and  mini- 
mizing to  the  utmost  the  restrictions  placed  upon  their  work. 
Duplication  of  work  in  different  years  must  be  avoided,  but 
beyond  the  limitations  set  with  this  object  in  view  there 
should  be  no  effort  made  to  secure  uniformity,  both  because 
every  attempt  to  secure  it  costs  something  in  vitality,  and  be- 
cause there  is  no  good  reason  for  uniformity  anyway.     These 


18  THE    TEACHING   OF    ENGLISH. 

suggestions  doubtless  seem  tame  in  comparison  with  the 
brilliant  new  departures  here  and  there  noisily  heralded,  but 
radical  reconstructions  appear  to  me  no  less  suspicious  in  the 
body  educational  than  in  the  body  politic.  It  will  be  time  to 
seek  for  the  "  new  thing  "  when  we  have  done  all  that  is  pos- 
sible with  the  old. 

Coming  now  to  the  subject  of  college  and  universit}^  Eng- 
lish, with  which  the  present  volume  is  chiefly  concerned,  it 
may  be  said  that  the  recent  reaction  from  the  formal  and 
dispiriting  methods  of  the  past  is  very  pronounced,  and  that 
the  study  of  the  English  language  and  literature  appears  to 
be  in  a  state  of  healthful  activity.  Mr.  Churton  Collins,  writ- 
ing six  or  seven  years  ago  upon  the  subject  of  the  instruction 
in  English  in  the  higher  schools  and  universities  of  England, 
complained  that  "  it  attains  none  of  the  ends  which  a  subject 
in  itself  so  full  of  attraction  and  interest  might  be  expected 
to  attain.  It  fails  to  fertilize ;  it  fails  to  inform ;  it  fails 
even  to  awaken  curiosity."  This  triple  failure  he  ascribed  to 
the  fact  that  literature  "  has  been  regarded  not  as  the  expres- 
sion of  art  and  genius,  but  as  mere  material  for  the  study  of 
words,  as  mere  pabulum  for  philology."  Again,  the  whole 
machinery  of  higher  education  in  England  is  subordinated  to 
the  interests  of  examiners,  and  its  final  product  is  the  suc- 
cessful examinee,  the  man  who  is  found  equal  to  the  Civil 
Service  tests,  the  classman  of  the  Tripos.  Even  so  sound  a 
thinker  as  Professor  Goldwin  Smith  has  recently  doubted  the 
success  of  the  new  Oxford  school  of  English  literature,  on  the 
ground  that  the  subject  does  not  easily  lend  itself  to  the  tra- 
ditional sort  of  examination.  Emerson,  many  years  ago,  out- 
lined the  New  History  in  the  phrase :  "  Broader  and  deeper 
we  must  write  our  annals."  Similarly,  we  may  say  to  such 
cavillers  as  Professor  Smith  :  "  Broader  and  deeper  must  we 
make  our  examination  papers."  The  subject  of  English  liter- 
ature has  far  too  high  an  educational  value  to  be  neglected 


INTRODUCTION.  19 

merely  because  it  requires  some  adaptation  or  reconstruction 
of  a  few  time-honored  methods  and  adjuncts  of  teaching. 

The  criticisms  of  Mr.  Collins  apply,  of  course,  mutatis 
mutandis,  very  largely  to  the  American  conditions  of  not  . 
many  years  ago.  It  may  be  said,  indeed,  that  the  temptation 
is  still  strong  with  us  to  regard  works  of  literature  as  mate- 
rial for  minute  philological  and  historical  analysis,  and  that  / 
this  procedure  finds  a  certain  warrant  in  the  marked  success  \ 
which  everywhere  attends  it.  But  the  real  question  is  I 
whether  the  success  thus  obtained  is  of  the  sort  to  be  desired. 
Does  it  not  mean  the  intrusion  of  science  upon  a  domain  set 
apart  for  other,  if  not  higher,  purposes  ?  It  is  doubtless 
much  easier  to  treat  literature  by  the  method  of  science  than 
by  the  method  of  aesthetics  ;  but  does  not  literature,  thus 
treated,  cease  to  assert  its  peculiar  and  indispensable  func- 
tion ?  Perhaps  it  may  be  just  as  well,  as  the  late  Edward  T. 
McLaughlin  suggested,  to  defer  ''  laboratory  work  "  in  litera- 
ture "  until  scientists  introduce  literary  methods  into  the 
laboratory."  The  effects  of  this  "mechanical  and  harshly 
intellectualized  study''  are  not  unfairly  described  by  that 
writer  in  the  following  passage :  "  If  the  literary  neophyte's 
attention  is  directed  too  largely  toward  facts,  he  may  mistake 
the  means  for  the  end,  and  as  a  result  of  his  training  find  the 
principal  object  that  confronts  him  as  he  takes  up  new  works, 
nothing  spiritual  and  aesthetic,  but  only  the  task  of  obtaining 
exterior  information,  hunting  down  quotations,  dates,  and 
allusions,  surveying  a  poem  by  the  rod  and  line  of  a  technical 
phraseology,  detecting  parallels,  and  baying  at  the  holes  of 
conjectural  origiuals,  finally  to  emerge  from  his  studies 
learned,  but  not  literary."  It  seems  to  me  that  our  colleges 
should  no  longer  permit  this  sort  of  work  to  masquerade  as 
the  study  of  literature,  but  should  relegate  it  to  the  depart- 
ment of  science,  where  it  properly  belongs.  But  some  of  our 
college  calendars,  upon  compliance  with  this  demand,  would 


20  THE   TEACHING   OF   ENGLISH. 

be  almost  denuded  of  literary  courses,  which,  in  turn,  might 
result  in  the  much-needed  provision  for  the  study  of  literature 
in  the  true  sense.  It  is  no  easy  matter  to  disentangle  the 
study  of  literature,  thus  conceived,  from  the  meshes  that 
philological  and  historical  science  have  woven  about  it,  but  a 
few  men  have  been  successful  in  the  work,  and  their  example 
'  is  there  for  the  rest  to  follow.  Men  of  this  class,  more  than 
of  any  other,  are  needed  by  our  colleges  to-day  ;  and  in  secur- 
ing such  men,  giving  free  scope  to  their  activity,  and  recogniz- 
ing the  claims  of  their  work  as  no  less  serious  than  the  claims 
of  work  in  any  other  department,  the  colleges  will  do  litera- 
ture the  best  service  in  their  power. 

The  series  of  articles  which  are  now  published  go  far  to 
show  that  the  objections  raised  by  such  men  as  Professor 
Goldwin  Smith  and  the  late  Professor  Freeman  are  nothing 
more  than  bugbears.  If  American  experience  (as  recorded  in 
these  articles)  counts  for  anything,  it  must  be  admitted  to 
establish  beyond  question  the  claims  of  English  as  a  proper 
subject  of  university  instruction.  Does  it  fail  to  fertilize,  to 
inform,  to  awaken  curiosity  ?  Let  us  see  what  a  few  of  our 
educators  think  about  it.  Says  Professor  Cook  :  "  The  writer 
might  formulate  the  especial  object  which  he  proposes  to 
himself  as  the  development  in  the  student,  whether  graduate 
or  undergraduate,  of  insight  and  power,  and  indeed  he  con- 
ceives this  to  be  the  end  of  all  education  whatever.  The 
imparting  of  information  ~  seems  to  him  quite  a  secondary 
object ;  and  a  love  for  literature  is  most  likely,  as  he  thinks, 
to  be  promoted  by  the  acquisition  of  insight  and  power."  Says 
Professor  Corson :  "  It  is  considered  of  prime  importance  that 
students  should  first  attain  to  a  sympathetic  appreciation  of 
what  is  essential  and  intrinsic,  before  the  adventitious  fea- 
tures of  literature  —  features  due  to  time  and  place  —  be 
considered."  Professor  Dodge,  speaking  of  the  study  of 
Shakespeare,  says  that  grammatical  criticism  is  treated  spar- 


INTRODITCTIOK.  21 

ingly,  and  textual  criticism  even  more  so.  He  then  adds : 
"  The  results  of  this  method  of  Shakespeare  study  have  been 
very  encouraging,  many  of  the  pupils  seeming  to  develope 
from  it  a  real  love  for  the  subject."  Professor  March  writes 
that  the  courses  under  his  direction  are  constant  to  the 
central  idea  of  this  passage  quoted  from  Arnold  of  Rugby : 
"  What  a  treat  it  would  be  to  teach  Shakespeare  to  a  good 
class  of  young  Greeks  in  regenerate  Athens  ;  to  dwell  upon 
him  line  by  line  and  word  by  word,  and  so  get  all  his  pictures 
and  thoughts  leisurely  into  one's  mind,  till  I  verily  think 
one  would,  after  a  time,  almost  give  out  light  in  the  dark, 
after  having  been  steeped,  as  it  were,  in  such  an  atmosphere 
of  brilliance."  Professor  Sampson  considers  the  fundamen- 
tal aim  of  the  work  to  be  "  The  study  of  literature,  not 
of  biography  nor  of  literary  history,  not  of  grammar,  not  of 
etymology,  not  of  anything  but  the  works  themselves,  viewed 
as  their  creators  wrote  them,  viewed  as  art,  as  transcripts  of 
humanity,  —  not  as  logic,  not  as  psychology,  not  as  ethics." 
And  Professor  Tolman  thus  sums  up  his  conclusions  :  ^'  Liter- 
ary masterpieces  should  be  studied  chiefly,  it  seems  to  me, 
for  their  beauty.  It  is  because  of  their  charm,  their  beauty, 
that  they  have  immortality ;  it  is  only  because  of  this  that 
we  study  them  at  all." 

These  remarks,  which  might   be  multiplied    indefinitely, 
seem  to  me  fairly  typical  of  the  spirit  in  which  the  subject  of 
English  literature  is  studied  in  our  colleges  and  universities. 
Avoiding   the  dangerous    extremes  of   pedantry  on  the   one 
hand  and  dilettantism  on  the  other,  our  teachers  of  literature 
seem  to  be  animated  by  the  desire   to  impart  the  spirit  of 
literary    appreciation    no   less    than   the   methods    of    exact, 
scholarship   in  literary  investigation.     The   large  proportion 
of    students   taking   English    courses    is   almost   everywhere     \ 
noticeable,  and  there  is  little  evidence  that  these  courses  are  \    ^ 
elected  because  they  are  ^'  soft."     There  is  a  recent  and  grow- 


22  THE  TEACHING  OF  ENGLISH. 

ing  tcDdency  to  base  the  doctor's  degree  upon  English  as  a 
principal  subject,  and  to  encourage  publication  of  the  theses 
offered.  Inspection  of  a  number  of  such  theses  that  have 
come  to  my  notice  during  the  past  two  years  shows  them  to 
compare  more  than  favorably  with  the  similar  work  done  in 
English  at  the  German  universities.  In  this  American  work, 
aesthetic  and  philosophical  criticism  has  its  full  share,  and  its 
recognition  is  not  to  the  detriment  of  rigorous  training  or 
sound  scholarship. 

The  series  of  reports  upon  the  teaching  of  English  to 
which  attention  is  now  directed  have  been  contributed  in  every 
case  by  some  one  closely  identified  with  the  English  depart- 
ment of  the  institution  concerned,  and  in  the  majority  of 
cases  by  the  head  of  the  department.  They  provide  the  most 
elaborate  comparative  showing  ever  made  of  the  methods  pur- 
sued in  this  important  branch  of  the  higher  instruction. 
There  are  twenty  articles  altogether,  representing  as  many 
centres  of  light  and  leading;  and  while  the  showing  might 
have  been  extended  to  many  more  institutions  without  abate- 
ment of  interest,  enough  facts  have  been  furnished  to  provide 
a  safe  basis  for  generalization,  and  to  illustrate  every  impor- 
tant phase  of  the  teaching  of  English  as  it  is  now  understood 
by  those  among  us  who  are  foremost  in  its  profession. 

The  colleges  and  universities  represented  in  this  series  fall 
into  certain  natural  groups  which  it  may  be  well  to  indicate. 
First  of  all,  we  have  such  venerable  Eastern  institutions  as 
Harvard,  Yale,  Columbia,  and  the  University  of  Pennsylva- 
nia. With  these  we  may  group  Amherst  and  Lafayette, 
standing  for  the  class  of  small  colleges  to  which  American 
education  owes  a  debt  far  from  measurable  by  their  size,  and 
the  University  of  Virginia,  representing  the  earlier  type  of 
Southern  education  so  well  justified  of  its  children  during  the 
long  ante-bellum  period.  A  second  and  fairly  compact  group 
is   formed   of   the   state-supported   institutions   of  the   New 


IKTRODUCTION.  23 

West  —  the  Universities  of  Michigan,  Illinois,  Indiana,  Wis- 
consin, Minnesota,  Iowa,  Nebraska,  and  California.  The  third 
and  last  group  includes  those  later  foundations  of  private 
philanthropy  which,  with  their  suddenly  acquired  wealth  and 
mushroom-like  rate  of  development,  already  threaten  to  over- 
shadow the  ancient  fame  of  the  New  England  institutions. 
To  this  category  belong  Cornell  and  Stanford  Universities, 
Johns  Hopkins  University,  and  the  University  of  Chicago. 
Here  we  may  also  include,  as  representing  both  the  new  phi- 
lanthropy and  the  new  spirit  that  does  not  seek  to  exclude 
woman  from  the  benefits  of  the  higher  culture,  Wellesley  Col- 
lege, to  which  attention  is  called  in  one  of  the  most  interest- 
ing reports  of  the  series. 

Although  this  grouping  is  but  one  of  several  that  might  be 
chosen,  it  seems,  on  the  whole,  the  most  natural  and  the  most 
suggestive.  It  very  nearly  amounts  to  a  geographical  grouping 
of  the  East  and  the  West,  or  to  a  chronological  grouping  of 
the  old  and  the  new.  And  perhaps  the  first  idea  suggested  by 
this  antithesis  of  East  and  West,  of  old  and  new,  is  that  the 
former  class  stands  for  a  conservative  adherence  to  well-tried 
methods  and  aims,  while  the  latter  class  stands  for  experiment, 
fertility  of  invention,  and  the  broadening  of  standards.  Cer- 
tainly, the  new  ideas  and  the  novel  methods  reported  come 
rather  from  the  West  than  the  East,  rather  from  the  youthful 
than  from  the  ancient  foundations.  It  is  undoubtedly  true 
that  the  newer  communities  of  the  West  supply  the  educator 
with  a  cruder  material  than  comes  into  the  hands  of  a  New 
England  faculty,  and  possibly  this  is  the  very  thing  that 
stimulates  him  to  new  departures  and  novel  activities.  It 
makes  a  vast  difference  whether  the  average  student  comes 
from  a  home  in  which  books  are  among  the  most  essential  of 
furnishings  and  from  a  family  in  which  culture  is  a  traditional 
inheritance,  or  from  the  environment  of  the  pioneer  settle- 
ment,   which   has   not   yet    forgotten   or    outlived   the   hard 


24  THE  TEACHING  OF  ENGLISH. 

struggle  for  subsistence  and  a  foothold.  And,  while  I  am 
not  disposed  to  say  that  the  new  universities  are  doing  more 
than  the  old  ones  for  the  study  of  our  common  speech  and 
literary  inheritance,  I  cannot  refrain  from  commendation  of 
the  alertness,  the  keenness  of  scent,  and  the  adaptability  with 
which  they  are  shaping  their  work  to  their  special  conditions. 

Viewing  this  collection  of  reports  as  a  whole,  it  is  clear 
that  they  supply  the  material  for  a  considerable  number  of 
fairly  trustworthy  inductions.  A  few  of  these  I  will  en- 
deavor briefly  to  set  forth.  The  statistics  given  to  show  the 
numbers  of  students  pursuing  English  courses  at  the  respec- 
tive colleges  show  that  these  courses  are  nearly  everywhere 
very  popular.  They  run  the  classical  courses  closely,  and  in 
some  cases  seem  to  attract  a  larger  number  of  students,  al- 
though the  figures  are  lacking  for  any  exact  comparative 
statement  on  this  subject.  In  a  recent  review  article  Profes- 
sor Woodrow  Wilson  contends  that  the  twin  bases  of  the  new 
liberal  education  ought  to  be  the  study  of  literature  and  the 
study  of  institutions.  As  far  as  the  study  of  literature  is 
concerned,  it  would  seem  that  the  contention  is  already  justi- 
fied, or  nearly  so,  by  the  fact.  The  thousand  odd  students  at 
Yale  (and  Shefiield),  at  Harvard,  at  the  Universities  of  Mich- 
igan, and  even  of  Nebraska,  give  eloquent  testimony  to  the 
popularity  of  English  teaching,  to  say  nothing  of  the  eight 
hundred  and  seventy-three  reported  by  California,  the  six 
hundred  and  twenty-nine  by  Chicago,  and  the  four  hundred 
and  fifty  by  Stanford.  Equally  eloquent,  from  another  point 
of  view,  are  such  English  faculties  as  that  of  Harvard,  with 
twenty  men,  and  of  Chicago,  with  fifteen.  Courses  are  re- 
ported in  so  many  different  ways  that  comparison  is  not  easy  j 
but  Chicago,  with  upwards  of  sixty  hours  a  week,  seems  to 
head  the  list,  while  Harvard,  Stanford,  and  California  are  not 
far  behind. 

The  important  subject  of  entrance  requirements  is  not  dis- 


UNIVERSIT  t) 
iNTRODUCTIO^ar-^LlFORNlA:,^^      25 

cussed  in  the  majority  of  our  reports,  but  the  few  allusions 
made  to  it  are  of  the  greatest  interest.  During  the  past 
year,  Yale  has  for  the  first  time  required  an  entrance  qualifi- 
cation in  English.  From  Pennsylvania  comes  the  vague  re- 
port that  "  English  literature  "  is  required  for  entrance.  As 
we  go  West,  we  do  better  and  better.  Indiana  has  relegated 
the  bugbear  of  "Freshman  English"  to  the  preparatory 
schools,  and  Nebraska  has  accomplished  a  similar  reform. 
The  most  interesting  reports  upon  this  subject  come  from  the 
Pacific  Coast.  The  University  of  California  requires  "  a 
high-school  course  of  at  least  three  years,  at  the  rate  of  five 
hours  a  week  ;  and  it  advocates,  and  from  some  schools  se- 
cures, a  four  years'  course."  This  requirement  is  further 
said  to  be  fifty  per  cent  more  extensive  and  stringent  than 
that  made  by  the  New  England  Association  of  Colleges. 
Stanford  University  started  out  with  what  was  substantially 
the  New  England  requirement,  but  has  since  raised  that  stand- 
ard upon  the  side  of  composition.  "This  year,"  it  is  said, 
"  we  have  absolutely  refused  to  admit  to  our  courses  students 
unprepared  to  do  real  collegiate  work.  The  Freshman  En- 
glish course  in  theme-writing  has  been  eliminated  from  our 
programme,  and  has  been  turned  over  to  approved  teachers, 
and  to  the  various  secondary  schools.  Had  this  salutary  in- 
novation not  been  accomplished,  all  the  literary  courses  would 
have  been  swept  away  by  the  rapidly  growing  inundation  of 
Freshman  themes,  and  all  our  strength  and  courage  would 
have  been  dissipated  in  preparing  our  students  to  do  respect- 
able work  at  more  happily  equipped  universities." 

The  study  of  these  reports  shows  the  existence,  in  most  of 
our  colleges,  of  a  well-marked  differentiation  of  literature  from 
linguistics.  In  many  of  the  cases,  indeed,  there  is  an  equally 
distinct  differentiation  of  rhetoric  from  the  other  two  depart- 
ments. If  this  introduction  has  dwelt  more  fully  upon  the 
aesthetic  than  upon  the  linguistic  side  of  English  training, 


26  THE  TEACHING   OF   ENGLISH. 

there  has  been  no  intention  of  ignoring  the  importance  of  the 
latter  aspect.  The  linguistic  part  of  the  field  is  in  no  danger 
of  careless  cultivation,  and  has  little  need  of  fertilizers.  The 
methods  of  linguistic  study  have  been  so  thoroughly  formu- 
lated and  systematized  by  workers  in  the  classical  languages, 
that  they  may  be  transferred  with  slight  modification  to  the 
subject  of  the  English  or  any  other  modern  tongue.  But  there 
is  still  something  resembling  anarchy  in  our  treatment  of  Eng- 
lish from  the  side  of  aesthetic  criticism,  as  well  as  from  that 
of  history  or  of  philosophy.  Hence  it  is  necessary  to  direct 
the  attention  mainly  to  these  aspects.  It  seems  to  be  of  the 
first  importance  that  the  two  grand  divisions  of  the  subject 
should  be  sharply  differentiated.  One  need  have  no  quarrel 
with  either  the  science  of  linguistics  or  the  art  of  rhetoric  to 
be  persuaded  that  neither  of  the  two  should  be  permitted  to 
masquerade  as  the  study  of  literature.  It  is  gratifying  to  find 
that  the  distinction  is  both  made  and  observed  in  nearly  all  of 
the  institutions  under  consideration.  '^  Mere  literature  "  seems 
to  have  its  full  share  of  attention  and  teaching  strength;  it 
appears  to  be  cordially  recognized  as  a  true  university  subject, 
with  its  own  methods  and  aims,  and  with  its  own  tests  of  the 
culture  which  it  has  to  impart.  That  university  teaching  in 
literature  may  be  made  something  more  than  the  "  chatter 
about  Shelley "  which  one  of  its  most  famous  opponents  de- 
lighted to  call  it,  should  be  sufficiently  evident  from  a  careful 
study  of  these  twenty  reports.  The  question  may  be  raised 
whether  it  would  not  be  well  to  set  an  official  seal  upon  the 
separation  of  literature  from  its  allied  subjects  by  making  of 
it  a  separate  department  of  university  work,  just  as  some  of 
our  more  progressive  institutions  have  erected  sociology  into 
a  distinct  department,  thus  definitely  marking  it  off  from  the 
allied  departments  of  political  and  economic  science.  The 
English  scholars  in  our  universities  are,  almost  without  excep- 
tion, either  literary  critics  or  masters  of  linguistic  science; 


INTRODUCTION.  27 

they  are  rarely,  if  ever,  both  at  once.  Now  this  means  that  a 
department  of  English  having  a  single  head  will  almost  inev- 
itably become  developed  upon  one  side  at  the  expense  of  the 
other.  Such  of  our  institutions  as  Columbia  College,  Cornell 
University,  and  Stanford  University  have  clearly  recognized 
this  difficulty,  and  have  kept  English  linguistics  distinct  from 
English  literature. 

Assuming  this  differentiation,  what  should  be  the  qual- 
ifications of  a  professor  of  English  literature  proper?  His 
function,  to  quote  from  Mr.  Collins  once  more,  '^  is  the  inter- 
pretation of  power  and  beauty  as  they  reveal  themselves  in 
language,  not  simply  by  resolving  them  into  their  constituent 
elements,  but  by  considering  them  in  their  relation  to  princi- 
ples.'' To  perform  this  function  it  is  evident  that  he  must 
have  a  thorough  training  in  the  history  of  criticism,  from 
Aristotle  to  Pater;  that  he  must  have  a  wide  acquaintance 
with  literature,  ancient  and  modern,  native  and  foreign ;  that 
he  must  have  a  delicately  attuned  ear  and  a  cultivated  aesthetic 
sense ;  that,  finally,  he  must  have  in  an  unusual  degree  the 
power  of  giving  literary  expression  to  his  thought,  and  some- 
thing like  a  passion  for  bringing  other  minds  into  sympathetic 
communion  with  his  own.  He  should  be,  in  a  word,  as  nearly 
as  possible  such  a  man  as  Arnold,  or  Lowell,  or  Sainte-Beuve, 
among  the  dead,  or  as  M.  Brunetiere,  or  Mr.  Watts,  or  Mr. 
Stedman,  among  the  living.  Men  of  this  type,  or  approaching 
this  type,  some  of  our  universities  already  have ;  the  others 
may  obtain  them  if  they  will  but  enlarge  their  horizon  suffi- 
ciently to  recognize  the  fact  that  for  the  work  of  giving  vital 
instruction  in  English  literature  other  than  merely  academic 
qualifications  are  needed ;  that  such  qualifications  are,  indeed, 
of  but  secondary  importance. 

Space  fails  me  in  which  to  discuss  the  many  remaining 
subjects  of  interest  offered  by  a  comparative  examination  of 
these  reports.     I  should  like  to  speak  of  the  growing  impor- 


28  THE  TEACHING  OF  ENGLISH. 

tance  of  graduate  work  in  Eoglish,  of  the  tendency  to  give  a 
larger  place  to  Semiiiar  investigation,  of  the  historical  aspect 
of  literary  study,  of  the  extent  to  which  American  literature 
should  receive  special  treatment,  of  the  importance  of  intro- 
ducing courses  which  bring  into  comparison  the  literatures  of 
culture,  of  the  inexhaustible  subject  of  special  methods  of  in- 
struction, and  the  equally  inexhaustible  subject  of  the  general 
aims  to  be  kept  in  view  by  the  teacher  of  literature.  But 
such  discussion  must  await  another  occasion.  My  closing 
word  shall  be  one  of  gratification  at  the  admirable  variety, 
vitality,  and  individuality  of  the  presentment  as  a  whole. 
Whatever  may  be  the  shortcomings  of  our  present  higher  in- 
struction in  English,  it  has  not  fallen  into  the  stagnation  of  a 
pedantic  routine.  It  is  alert,  progressive,  and  eager  in  its 
outlook  for  higher  things  than  have  as  yet  been  attained, 
however  far  it  may  still  be  from  the  fulfilment  of  its  whole 
ambition. 

W.  M.  P. 


N^. 


•CTNIVERSITT 
ENGLISH   AT   YALE   UNIVERSITY. 

PROFESSOR   ALBERT   S.    COOK. 

According  to  the  Catalogue,  Yale  College,  or  the  Aca- 
demical Department  of  Yale  University,  has  this  year  1150 
students.  There  are  five  men  to  do  the  work  in  English  — 
two  full  professors.  Professor  Henry  A.  Beers  and  myself, 
and  three  instructors,  Dr.  W.  L.  Phelps,  Mr.  H.  A.  Smith, 
and  Dr  A.  W.  Colton.  Nineteen  hours  a  week  of  English  are 
offered,  a  one-hour  course  (virtually)  to  Freshmen,  a  three- 
hour  course  to  Sophomores,  one  two-hour  course  and  one  one- 
hour  course  to  Juniors,  three  two-hour  courses  to  Seniors,  and 
three  two-hour  courses  to  Juniors  and  Seniors  alike.  Elimi- 
nating duplicates,  922  men  are  receiving  English  instruction, 
being  rather  more  than  four-fifths  of  the  number  of  students 
in  the  College.  Of  these  331  are  Freshmen ;  292  —  practi- 
cally the  whole  class  —  are  Sophomores  ;  the  rest  are  Juniors 
and  Seniors,  the  proportion  being  179  Juniors  to  120  Seniors. 
Of  the  Juniors,  44  take  four  or  more  hours  of  English ;  of  the 
Seniors,  18  take  four  or  more  hours,  and  9  as  many  as  six,  or 
more.  The  present  year  is  the  first  that  an  entrance  exami- 
nation in  English  has  been  required  since  the  modern  methods 
of  teaching  preparatory  English  have  come  into  effect,  and 
measures  have  now  been  taken  to  conform  to  the  recent  rec- 
ommendations of  the  Commission  of  Colleges  in  New  England. 
All  the  Junior  and  Senior  work  is  elective ;  the  Sophomores 
choose  five  out  of  six  prescribed  subjects,  these  being  Greek, 
Latin,  modern  languages,  mathematics,  English  literature, 
and  physics.  All  but  three  Sophomores  elect  English  this 
year, 

29 


30  THE   TEACHING   OF   ENGLISH. 

In  the  Sheffield  Scientific  School  of  Yale  University 
there  are  612  undergraduates,  distributed  into  three  classes  — 
Freshman,  Junior,  and  Senior.  For  this  number  two  English 
teachers  are  provided  —  a  full  professor.  Professor  Thomas 
E.  Lounsbury,  and  an  instructor.  Dr.  H.  P.  Cross.  Seven 
hours  of  work  in  English  are  given,  distributed  as  follows : 
for  Freshmen,  a  required  course  of  two  hours  per  week  during 
the  first  term  (one-third  of  the  academic  year) ;  for  Juniors, 
a  required  course  of  one  hour  during  the  second  term,  and  an 
elective  course  of  two  hours  during  the  first  term,  and  three 
hours  during  the  rest  of  the  year;  for  Seniors,  an  elective 
course  of  three  hours.  The  Freshman  course  is  given  to  250 
men,  the  Junior  required  course  to  199,  the  Junior  elective 
course  to  57,  and  the  Senior  elective  course  to  50  men.  In 
respect  to  the  entrance  examination  in  English,  the  require- 
ments are  nearly  the  same  as  in  the  Academical  Department, 
and  it  is  intended  that  the  agreement  shall  be  still  closer  in 
future. 

The  Freshman  and  Sophomore  courses  in  Yale  College  are 
outlined  as  follows  :  — 

The  required  study  of  English  literature  occupies  three  hours  a 
week  through  one-third  of  Freshman  year.  This  work  has  two  objects 
in  view:  (1)  to- give  the  student  an  elementary  knowledge  of  the  history 
of  English  literature,  so  that  he  may  be  able  to  take  more  advanced 
courses  or  do  general  reading  intelligently,  the  means  employed  being 
recitations  from  Mr.  Brooke's  Primer  of  English  Literature  ;  (2)  to  make 
every  student  intimately  acquainted  with  a  part  of  the  works  of  the 
greatest  English  writers,  by  forming  the  habit  of  reading  them  critically 
and  with  a  thorough  understanding  of  every  sentence  ;  this  end  is 
sought  to  be  attained  by  class-room  discussion  of  three  representative 
plays  of  Shakespeare,  attention  being  paid  to  the  close  interpretation  of 
the  text,  the  development  of  plot,  analysis  of  character,  and  general 
aesthetic  criticism. 

In  Sophomore  year  the  following  authors  are  rea<l :  Spenser,  Shake- 
speare, Bacon,  Milton,  Addison,  Swift,  Pope,  Johnson,  Goldsmith,  and 
(iray.     The  study  is  both  historical  and  critical,  giving  the  student  an 


ENGLISH   AT   YALE   UNIVERSITY.  31 

idea  of  the  general  development  and  course  of  English  literature,  while, 
at  the  same  time,  aiming  to  establish  sound  principles  of  criticism  and 
secure  a  better  appreciation  of  literature  as  an  art.  Practice  in  compo- 
sition work  is  afforded  by  the  preparation  of  three  papers  in  the  year, 
on  subjects  connected  with  the  work  of  the  course. 

The  Junior  and  Senior  elective  courses  in  Yale  College 
are  the  following :  — 

Professor  Beers  :  — 

Georgian  Literature  of  the  X/X'*  Century. 

Juniors.     2  hrs.  both  terms. 

'  Critical  readings  in  the  class-room  in  the  verse  and  prose  of 
Wordsworth,  Coleridge,  Scott,  Byron,  DeQuincey,  Lamb,  Shelley, 
and  Keats. 

Literature  of  the  Early  Stuart  and  Commonwealth  Period. 

Seniors.     2  hrs.  both  terms. 

The  literary  history  of  the  generation  of  1625-1660  (excluding 
the  drama),  with  special  reference  to  the  development  of  prose, 
to  the  lyrical  verse  of  the  Church  poets  and  the  Cavaliers,  and  to 
the  writings  of  Milton  in  English  and  Latin. 

English  Romanticism.  Seniors.     2  hrs.  both  terms. 

The  history  of  English  Romanticism  from  Thomson  to  Swin- 
burne (1726-1890),  with  incidental  study  of  parallel  movements  in 
Germany  and  France.  Instruction  is  given  mainly  by  lectures,  and 
frequent  written  examinations  are  held  on  the  reading  assigned. 

Professor  Cook  :  — 

English  Political  Orators.  2  hrs.  1st  term. 

Study  of  English  Parliamentary  orators  of  the  eighteenth  and 
nineteenth  centuries,  particularly  of  Burke.  Comparison  of 
English  with  American  political  orators. 

American  Literature.  2  hrs.  2d  term. 

Study  of  selected  authors,  such  as  Emerson,  Hawthorne,  and  \  y 
Lowell,  with  outside  reading  in  authors  or  works  not  undertaken 
in  class. 


uiAitl  ^ 


32  THE  TEACHING  OF   ENGLISH. 

Bacon.  2  hrs.  1st  term. 

Bacon's  Essays  and  Advancement  of  Learning.  Study  through 
paraphrase  and  amplification.  Bacon's  character,  opinions,  and 
style.  His  place  in  Elizabethan  literature.  Frequent  prepara- 
tion of  brief  papers  on  assigned  topics. 

Browning.  2  hrs.  2d  term. 

Critical  study  of  selected  poems-.  Browning's  theory  of  life, 
literary  art,  and  place  among  the  poets  of  this  century.  Compara- 
tive readings  in  other  authors,  and  frequent  preparation  of  brief 
papers  on  assigned  topics. 

Old  and  Middle  English.  2  hrs.  both  terms. 

An  elementary  course  in  the  beginnings  and  earlier  develop- 
ment of  the  English  language  and  literature.  The  first  term  will 
be  devoted  to  Cook's  First  Book  in  Old  English.  In  the  second 
term  this  will  be  followed  by  more  difficult  Old  English  texts,  and 
by  the  reading  of  selections  from  Chaucer  and  other  Middle  Eng- 
lish writers  for  linguistic  purposes. 

Dr.  Phelps  :  — 

The  Elizabethan  Drama. 

Seniors.  2  hrs.  both  terms. 
A  purely  literary  course  in  the  English  Drama,  from  the  Mys- 
tery Plays  to  the  closing  of  the  theatre  in  1642.  The  pre-Eliza- 
bethan  period  will  be  read  and  discussed  only  in  the  most  cursory 
fashion,  the  object  being  to  get  merely  a  historical  background. 
Some  plaj's  of  all  the  principal  dramatists  from  1580  to  1640,  ex- 
cept Shakespeare,  will  be  read:  Marlowe,  Ben  Jonson,  Dekker, 
Chapman,  Heywood,  Middleton,  Beaumont  and  Fletcher,  Web- 
ster, Ford,  Massinger,  and  Shirley.  The  course  will  require  from 
every  student  a  large  amount  of  reading.  Although  intended 
primarily  for  Seniors  and  graduates,  a  limited  number  of  Juniors 
will  be  admitted,  the  previous  consent  of  the  instructor  being 
necessary. 

Mr.  Smith  :  — 

English  Composition.  Seniors.     1  hr.  both  terms. 

Course  114  is  intended  primarily  to  give  practice  in  composi- 
tion.     For  this  purpose  a  theme  of  not  over  150  words  will  be 


ENGLISH   AT   YALE   UNIVERSITY.  33 

required,  for  the  first  term  at  least,  five  times  a  week  from  each 
member  of  the  class.  A  weekly  class-room  exercise  will  be  occu- 
pied with  discussion  and  criticism  of  specimen  themes,  and  with 
instruction  in  some  of  the  principles  of  composition.  The  in- 
structor will  also  meet  the  members  of  the  class  individually  for 
conference  about  once  a  month.  The  methods  of  the  course  may 
be  varied  from  time  to  time  at  the  discretion  of  the  instructor,  and 
will  require  of  the  class  a  considerable  amount  of  outside  work. 

Of  these,  and  the  corresponding  courses  offered  every 
alternate  year,  the  Catalogue  offers  the  subjoined  explana- 
tions :  — 

The  strictly  elective  work  in  English  (the  Sophomores  elect  five  out 
of  six  subjects)  follows  four  different,  though  related,  lines.  Instruction 
is  offered  in  the  history  of  the  literature  as  a  whole ;  in  the  earlier  stages 
of  the  language,  with  reference  as  well  to  the  reading  of  the  older  liter- 
ature as  to  linguistic  discipline;  in  composition;  and  in  the  study  of 
various  periods,  tendencies,  classes  of  writers,  and  individual  authors. 

The  course  in  the  history  of  English  literature  is  meant  to  deepen 
and  extend  the  instruction  in  that  subject  received  in  the  earlier  years. 

The  course  in  Old  and  Middle  English  is  intended  to  impart  a  gen- 
eral view  of  the  history  of  the  language,  and  the  elementary  knowledge 
essential  to  the  reading  of  pre-Chaucerian  authors,  as  well  as  to  the 
fuller  understanding  of  Chaucer  himself;  this  course  is  especially  rec- 
ommended to  all  those  who  look  forward  to  the  teaching  of  English, 
whether  in  college  or  secondary  school. 

The  course  in  composition  affords  opportunity  for  practice  in  the 
preparation  of  daily  themes,  and  for  the  broader,  as  well  as  the  minuter, 
criticism  of  them  by  the  instructor.  Besides  this  special  class  in  com- 
position, many  of  the  courses  in  literature  provide  opportunities  for  the 
preparation  of  papers  on  topics  that  are  naturally  suggested,  and  for 
the  oral  discussion  of  them.  The  DeFor.est,  Townsend,  TenEyck, 
Betts,  and  McLaughlin  prizes  are  under  the  superintendence  of  the 
instructors  in  English,  and  constitute  a  stimulus  to  sound  and  creditable 
work  in  composition. 

The  chief  periods  of  English  literature,  with  reference  to  which 
instruction  is  at  present  provided,  are:  (1)  the  Early  Stuart  and  Com- 
monwealth period;  (2)  the  Georgian  period;  (3)  the  Victorian  period; 
(4)  that  covered  by  American  literature,  especiall^_of_the  present  cen-    j  / 
tury.     The  chief  tendency  discussed  is  that,iil^^6d  i)J|p^e^ei:pi  Ro-    ^ 

ONI  VERSITY 


II 


34  THE  TEACHING  OP  ENGLISH. 

manticism.  The  chief  classes  of  writers  examined  are  the  Elizabethan 
dramatists,  the  essayists,  and  the  political  orators  of  the  last  and  the 
present  centuries.  The  chief  individual  authors  studied  are  Shake- 
speare, in  two  different  courses,  pursuing  two  somewhat  different 
objects;  Bacon;  Browning;  and  Tennyson. 

The  larger  number  of  the  courses  in  English  are  intended  to  be  dis- 
ciplinary, as  well  as  instructive:  in  other  words,  they  have  in  view  the 
development  of  insight  and  power  no  less  than  the  conveyance  of  in- 
formation. 

Authoritative  statements  concerning  the  courses  of  the 
Sheffield  Scientific  School  are  as  follows  :  — 

English.  —  The  course  is  designed  to  give  the  student  acquaintance 
with  the  great  representative  writers  of  the  various  epochs.  A  history 
of  the  language  is  one  of  the  studies  of  the  Freshman  year;  and  after 
that  year  the  study  of  the  language  is  made  entirely  subordinate  to  that 
of  the  literature.  During  the  first  term  of  Junior  year,  however,  ex- 
tracts from  Early  English  authors  are  read,  and  Early  English  grammar 
is  studied,  so  as  to  familiarize  the  student  with  the  inflections  then  in 
use  and  the  distinctions  existing  between  the  leading  dialects.  It  is  the 
aim  of  this  term's  work  to  give  such  knowledge  of  forms,  and  to  some 
extent  of  words,  that  the  student  will  be  able  to  read  at  sight  any  Early 
English  author  whose  writings  do  not  involve  special  difficulties  of 
language  or  vocabulary. 

With  the  second  term,  the  regular  study  of  English  literature  proper 
begins  with  Chaucer;  and  for  the  rest  of  the  course  till  the  end  of 
Senior  year  the  following  authors  are  read:  Bacon,  Shakespeare,  Mil- 
ton, Dryden,  Pope,  Gray,  Goldsmith,  and  later  writers.  Those  men- 
tioned in  the  list  are  always  studied,  but  other  authors  not  named  are 
also  taken  up,  the  course  varying  somewhat  in  different  years.  In  all 
cases,  complete  works  of  a  writer  are  studied,  not  extracts;  as,  for  in- 
stance, several  of  Chaucer's  Tales,  and  several  of  the  plays  of  Shake- 
speare. The  authors  are  taken  up  in  chronological  order,  and  the 
literary  history  of  the  time  is  likewise  carried  on  in  connection  with  the 
great  representative  writers  of  each  period. 

English  Composition. — This  course,  required  of  the  entire  Ju- 
nior class,  consists  of  weekly  exercises  based  on  selections  from  the  writ- 
ings of  well-known  authors,  such  as  Irving,  De  Quincey,  and  Macaulay. 
While  it  intends  in  the  first  place  to  give  freedom  of  expression  and  the 
correction  of  the  most  obvious  faults  by  practice  in  writing  rapidly  the 


ENGLISH    AT    YALE   UNIVEKSITY.  35 

substance  of  a  passage  previously  assigned,  it  also  aims  to  direct  the  at- 
tention of  the  student  to  qualities  of  style  and  methods  of  composition, 
to  arouse  his  appreciative  interest  in  the  works  as  literature,  and  to 
improve  the  quality  of  his  writing  by  improving  the  quality  of  his 
thought.  To  this  end  occasional  discussions  of  the  selections  read  will 
occupy  a  part  of  the  weekly  hour. 

The  courses  of  graduate  instruction  are  given  under  the 
direction  of  the  Philosophical  Faculty,  which  is  distinct  from 
that  of  Yale  College  or  of  the  Sheffield  Scientific  School, 
though  naturally  including  the  principal  instructors  in  both. 
The  courses  in  English  are  these,  besides  the  undergraduate 
courses,  which  are  offered  to  graduates  also,  in  some  cases 
with  moL3  extended  work  to  fit  their  needs  ;  — 

Professor  Lounsbury  :  — 

The  English  Literature  of  the  XIV  *^  Century. 

Professor  Beers  :  — 

The  Restoration  and  the  Classical  Age  {1660-1745). 

The  course  is  intended  only  for  graduate  students,  who  meet 
for  instruction  once  a  week  to  discuss  and  report  upon  assigned 
portions  of  the  writings  of  Dryden,  Etherege,  Wycherley,  Van- 
brugh,  Farquhar,  Congreve,  Buckingham,  Milton,  Bunyan,  But- 
ler, Otway,  Cowley,  Swift,  Prior,  Addison,  Pope,  Steele,  Parnell, 
Gay,  DeFoe,  etc.  Diaries,  memoirs,  and  histories  of  the  period 
are  also  in  part  examined. 

Professor  Cook  :  — 

[The  strictly  graduate  courses  offered  below  are  given  according  to  circum- 
stances and  the  needs  of  the  graduate  students  actually  in  attendance  ;  but  special 
attention  is  given  to  the  supervision  of  individual  research  along  these  and  similar 
lines.] 

Theories  of  Poetry.  2  hrs.  2d  term. 

A  course  in  the  theories  of  poetry  in  general,  and  in  the  princi- 
ples of  criticism  applicable  to  its  various  departments,  as  the  epic, 
dramatic,   and  lyric.      Discussions  and  papers  on  the  basis  of 


36  THE  TEACHING   OF   ENGLISH. 

Standard  works,  such  as  Aristotle's  Poetics,  Sidney's  Defense  of 
Poesy^  Addison's  Criticisms  on  Paradise  Lost,  Boileau's  Art 
of  Poetry,  Lessiug's  Laokoon,  and  others  of  similar  character. 

Old  English  Poetry.  1  hr.  1st  term. 

The  texts  used  are  Judith  (Cook's  edition),  Elene  (Kent's  edi- 
tion), and  The  Battle  of  Maldon  (Sweet's  Reader).  These  are 
read,  their  place  in  the  literature  examined,  and  questions  of 
authorship,  date,  and  textual  criticism  discussed.  TenBrink's 
and  Wiilcker's  Histories  of  Old  English  Literature  are  constantly 
used  for  reference. 

Old  English  Grammar.  1  hr.  2d  term. 

An  exhaustive  grammatical  examination  of  some  prose  text  is 
made,  on  the  basis  of  Cook's  Phonological  Investigation  of  Old 
English  and  edition  of  Sievers'  Grammar  for  Phonology,  of  the 
latter  for  Inflection,  and  of  March's  Grammar  for  Syntax. 

Historical  English  Prosody.  1  hr.  1st  term. 

Schipper's  Englische  Metrik  is  adopted  as  the  basis  of  study, 
but  reference  is  made  to  the  discrepant  views  of  other  authorities. 

Middle  English  Grammar.  1  hr.  2d  term. 

An  outline  of  Middle  English  phonology  and  inflection  is  given 
by  means  of  lectures,  and  the  knowledge  thus  gained  is  applied  in 
a  grammatical  study  of  Chaucer,  on  the  basis  of  TenBrink's 
Chaucer^s  Sprache  und  Verskunst. 

Seminary  in  Ben  Jonson. 

A  study  of  the  language,  versification,  sources,  dramatic  art, 
and  influence  of  Ben  Jonson. 

An  English  Club,  organized  in  January  of  this  year,  and 
composed  of  teachers  and  graduate  students,  with  the  writer 
as  chairman,  holds  meetings  every  alternate  Monday  evening 
for  the  reading  and  discussion  of  papers  relating  to  methods 
of  teaching  and  studying  English.  Some  of  the  topics  pre- 
sented have  been :  Mr.  Churton  Collins's  Study  of  English 
Literature,  English  at  Oxford  University,  Professor  Corson's 


ENGLISH   AT   YALE   UNIVERSITY.  37 

Aim  of  Literary  Study,  Professor  Laurie's  Lectures  on  Lan- 
guage, The  Function  of  Mythology  in  the  Teaching  of 
Elementary  English,  Structural  Beauties  of  the  Odyssey, 
etc.  There  is  also  a  Modern  Language  Club,  formed  of 
instructors  and  students  in  the  Departments  of  English, 
Eomance  Languages,  and  German,  which  holds  its  regular 
meetings  on  the  second  Saturday  evening  of  each  month,  for 
the  reading  and  discussion  of  original  papers,  and  for  reports 
of  progress  in  the  field  of  these  studies.  The  seminary, 
introduced  last  year,  is  now  in  successful  operation,  and 
the  beginnings  of  a  seminary  library  have  been  made  in  a 
room  set  apart  for  that  purpose  and  for  research. 

It  will  be  observed  that  there  is  at  present  no  methodical 
instruction  in  rhetoric  in  Yale  University,  and  that  in  Yale 
College  composition  is  systematically  taught  in  but  one  course, 
and  that  an  elective,  though  incidentally  in  connection  with 
the  preparation  of  papers  in  the  literature  classes.  In  the 
Sheffield  Scientific  School,  Juniors  receive  instruction  in  com- 
position for  an  hour  a  week  throughout  the  year.  In  the 
College,  provision  has  at  length  been  made  for  the  regular 
teaching  of  both  rhetoric  and  composition  in  the  future. 
Dr.  Charles  S.  Baldwin,  late  of  Columbia  College,  will  have 
charge  of  this  work.  For  next  year  he  will  give  to  the 
Sophomores  a  required  course  of  an  hour  a  week  out  of  the 
three  devoted  to  English,  besides  conducting  the  criticism  of 
Sophomore  essays.  The  subjoined  announcement  will  indi- 
cate the  nature  of  his  proposed  work  with  upper-class  men  :  — 

Competitors  for  the  Porter,  DeForest,  Townsend,  TenEyck,  Betts, 
and  McLaughlin  prizes  have  the  privilege  of  regular  consultation  with 
Dr.  Baldwin  in  rhetoric  at  his  office  in  15  White  Hall.  The  same 
privilege  is  offered  to  a  limited  number  of  competent  Seniors  and 
Juniors  who  wish  to  combine  an  optional  course  in  composition  with 
any  elective  course  requiring  essays,  or  who  have  shown  special  aptitude 
for  some  distinct  kind  of  writing. 


38  THE  TEACHING  OF  ENGLISH. 

Only  one  linguistic  course  in  English  is  offered  in  Yale 
College,  and  this  is  pursued  by  but  ten  undergraduates, 
though  also  by  several  graduates.  This  will  indicate  that 
the  study  of  English  linguistics  (the  term  philology,  of 
course,  comprises  literary  study)  has  not  yet  secured  a  firm 
foothold  in  the  College  proper. 

In  estimating  the  amount  of  work  performed  by  the  mem- 
bers of  the  teaching  staff,  it  must  not  be  overlooked  that, 
because  of  the  size  of  the  classes  and  the  number  of  divisions, 
a  three-hour  course  often  represents  twelve  hours  of  instruc- 
tion per  week,  and  a  two-hour  course  four  or  six,  and  that 
the  professors  who  give  undergraduate  instruction  are  the 
only  ones  to  offer  courses  in  the  Graduate  School.  To  com- 
pare the  equipment  in  English  with  that  in  some  other 
departments  of  the  College  proper,  it  may  be  mentioned  that 
this  year  there  havfe  been  seven  men  in  Greek  —  four  pro- 
fessors, one  instructor,  and  two  tutors ;  in  mathematics  six 
—  three  professors,  two  assistant  professors,  and  one  tutor ; 
and  in  Latin  six  —  three  professors,  one  instructor,  and  two 
tutors. 

The  method  of  teaching  most  employed  throughout  the 
College  and  Scientific  School  is  a  combination  of  recitation 
and  lecture,  or  consists  of  recitations  alternating  with  occa- 
sional lectures.  The  combination  of  recitation  and  lecture 
might  more  accurately  be  described  as  recitation  intermingled 
with  discussion,  or  with  informal  comments  by  the  instructor. 

The  general  purpose  of  the  undergraduate  literary  instruc- 
tion in  both  departments  is  to  foster  the  love  of  literature  and 
the  development  of  the  critical  sense,  implying,  as  the  latter 
does,  the  fullest  appreciation  of  all  excellent  qualities. 
Methods  vary,  as  they  must,  with  the  individuality  of  the 
teacher.  The  writer  might  formulate  the  especial  object 
which  he  proposes  to  himself  as  the  development  in  the 
student,  whether  graduate  or  undergraduate,  of  insight  and 


ENGLISH  AT  YALE  UNIVERSITY.  89 

power,  and  indeed  he  conceives  this  to  be  the  end  of  all 
education  whatever.  The  imparting  of  information  seems  to 
him  quite  a  secondary  object ;  and  a  love  for  literature  is  most 
likely,  as  he  thinks,  to  be  promoted  by  the  acquisition  of 
insight  and  power.  Of  course  these  terms  must  be  taken  in 
the  broadest  sense,  so  as  to  include  the  emotional  and  aesthetic 
faculties  as  well  as  the  purely  intellectual,  the  will  and  the 
moral  nature  no  less  than  the  reason.  To  this  end  no  study 
can  be  better  suited  than  English,  its  comprehensiveness, 
variety,  and  richness  of  content  rendering  it  an  unsurpassed 
aliment  of  the  spiritual  life,  while,  by  proper  methods  of  in- 
struction, it  may  be  made  a  most  effective  instrument  of 
spiritual  discipline. 


^,^  ENGLISH   AT   COLUMBIA   COLLEGE. 

PROFESSOR   BRANDER    MATTHEWS. 

In  a  small  college  a  professor  of  English  is  called  upon  to 
give  instruction  in  three  or  four  distinct  subjects  —  in  the 
use  of  the  English  language,  ordinarily  termed  rhetoric,  in 
the  history  of  the  English  language,  in  the  history  of  Eng- 
lish literature,  and  often  also  (if  he  should  happen  to  be 
ambitious)  in  the  history  of  the  development  of  the  more 
important  literary  forms  (the  drama,  for  example,  and  the 
novel),  in  other  literatures  as  well  as  in  English.  In  a  large 
college,  and  in  a  university  where  much  graduate  work  is 
carried  on,  these  four  subjects  are  divided  among  different 
professors,  each  of  whom,  whatever  the  title  of  his  chair,  in 
reality  gives  instruction  in  those  divisions  of  the  subject  in 
which  he  takes  most  interest.  At  Columbia  College  we  have 
a  professor  of  rhetoric  and  English  composition,  Mr.  George 
H.  Carpenter,  with  several  assistants.  We  have  a  professor 
of  English  language  and  literature,  Mr.  Thomas  R.  Price,  and 
an  adjunct  professor  of  English,  Mr.  A.  V.  Williams  Jackson. 
We  have  also  two  professors  of  literature,  Mr.  George  E. 
Woodberry  and  myself. 

In  the  Department  of  Rhetoric,  Prof.  G.  R.  Carpenter  and 
his  chief  assistant,  Mr.  Baldwin,  lecture  to  the  lower  classes 
on  the  principles  of  English  composition.  As  the  best  way  to 
teach  students  to  write  is  to  have  them  write  freely  and  fre- 
quently, they  are  called  upon  to  express  themselves  on  topics 
in  which  they  are  interested,  and  often  of  their  own  choice. 
Their  written  work  for  other  professors  is  often  submitted 

40 


ENGLISH  AT   COLUMBIA  COLLEGE.  41 

also  to  the  instructors  in  rhetoric.  These  essays  are  criticised 
by  the  instructors  in  private  talks  with  every  individual 
student.  The  general  tendency  of  the  instruction  is  affirm- 
ative rather  than  negative.  In  other  words,  instead  of  telling 
the  student  what  he  must  not  do,  and  of  dwelling  on  the 
faults  he  should  avoid,  the  aim  of  the  instructors  is  to  show 
him  how  to  express  himself  easily  and  vigorously.  As  this  is 
Professor  Carpenter's  first  year  at  Columbia,  the  courses  in 
rhetoric  are  not  yet  fully  developed ;  next  year  they  will  be 
enlarged  and  increased.  Certain  courses  given  by  other  pro- 
fessors really  belong  in  the  Department  of  Rhetoric.  One  of 
these  is  Professor  Price's  course  (two  hours  a  week  through- 
out the  year)  on  the  laws  of  prose  composition  in  English. 
Another  is  my  own  (one  hour  a  week  throughout  the  year) 
on  the  art  of  English  versification,  an  attempt  to  give  prac- 
tical instruction  in  metrical  composition. 

The  instruction  in  the  history  of  the  English  language  is 
as  distinct  as  may  be  from  the  instruction  in  the  history  of 
English  literature.  In  the  Department  of  the  Germanic  Lan- 
guages, of  which  Professor  H.  H.  Boyesen  is  the  head,  he 
and  Professor  W.  H.  Carpenter  offer  courses  in  Icelandic,  in 
Gothic,  in  Middle  High  German  and  in  Old  High  German,  all 
of  which  would  be  useful  to  a  student  of  English  philology. 
Professor  Jackson  has  one  course  (two  hours  a  week  through- 
out the  year)  in  Anglo-Saxon  language  and  historical  English 
Grammar ;  another  (two  hours  a  week,  half  the  year  only) 
on  Anglo-Saxon  poetry ;  a  third  (two  hours  a  week,  half  the 
year  only)  on  Early  and  Middle  English  from  the  twelfth  to 
the  fifteenth  century.  Professor  Price  has  a  course  (two 
hours  a  week  throughout  the  year)  on  Anglo-Saxon  prose 
and  historical  English  syntax. 

In  the  history  of  English  literature.  Professor  Price  has 
three  courses  (each  two  hours  a  week  throughout  the  year), 
one  on  Shakespeare :  language,  versification,  and  method  of 


42  THE  TEACHING  OF  ENGLISH. 

dramatic  poetry ;  another  on  Chaucer :  language,  versifica- 
tion, and  method  of  narrative  poetry;  and  a  third  on  The 
poetry  of  Tennyson,  Browning,  and  Matthew  Arnold.  A 
course  on  the  English  drama  to  the  closing  of  the  theatres 
(1640),  exclusive  of  Shakespeare  (two  hours  a  week  through- 
out the  year),  is  given  conjointly  by  Professors  Jackson  and 
Woodberry,  Professor  Woodberry  gives  four  other  courses ; 
two  (each  one  hour  a  week  for  half  the  year)  on  Spenser 
and  the  Elizabethan  poets,  exclusive  of  drama,  and  on  Mil- 
ton and  the  Caroline  poets ;  and  two  (each  two  hours  a 
week  throughout  the  year)  on  Eighteenth  century  liter- 
ature and  on  Nineteenth  century  literature.  This  last 
course  considers  only  British  authors,  and  therefore  it  con- 
flicts in  no  way  with  my  own  course  (two  hours  a  week 
throughout  the  year)  on  American  literature. 

Perhaps  these  three  divisions,  rhetoric,  English  language, 
and  English  literature,  include  all  the  courses  which  can 
fairly  be  called  English ;  but  closely  allied  to  the  first  and  to 
the  third  of  these  divisions  is  literature,  —  literature  at  large, 
independent  of  any  given  tongue,  just  as  linguistics  is  inde- 
pendent of  any  given  language,  and  going  from  one  tongue  to 
another,  just  as  linguistics  goes  from  one  language  to  another. 
In  this  sense  the  study  of  literature  is  the  tracing  of  the  evo- 
lution of  literary  form  and  of  the  development  of  criticism  as 
masterpieces  came  into  existence.  In  this  department  Pro- 
fessor Woodberry  has  two  courses,  one  (two  hours  a  week 
throughout  the  year)  on  the  history  and  theory  of  criti- 
cism ;  Plato,  Aristotle,  Horace,  Quintilian,  Sidney,  Boileau, 
Dryden,  Lessing,  Coleridge ;  and  another,  open  only  to  stu- 
dents who  have  taken  the  first,  on  the  practice  of  criti- 
cism, a  review  of  the  greater  works  of  literature,  with  specific 
original  inquiries  in  particular  epochs.  And  I  have  two 
courses  also,  one  (two  hours  a  week  throughout  the  year) 
on   the  epochs   of  the  drama:    Greek,   Latin,   Spanish,  Eng- 


ENGLISH   AT  COLUMBIA  COLLEGE.  43 

lish,  French,  German;  and  another  (one  hour  a  week 
throughout  the  year)  on  the  development  of  the  modern 
novel,  from  the  Gesta  Romanorum  to  Waverley.  All  four  of 
these  courses  'are  intended  primarily  for  graduates,  and  are 
open  only  to  them  and  to  seniors. 

From  the  foregoing  paragraphs  the  reader  can  see  how 
fully  English  is  treated  at  Columbia  College,  and  from  how 
many  sides  it  is  approached  ;  and  he  can  judge  for  himself 
whether  there  is  any  unjust  discrimination  against  either  the 
linguistic  half  of  the  subject  or  the  literary.  I  have  to  add 
only  that  in  no  course  in  the  history  of  English  literature,  or 
in  the  history  of  literature,  is  any  text-book  used  so  far  as  I 
am  aware.  All  the  professors  are  agreed  in  insisting  that  the 
Student  shall  get  at  first  hand  his  knowledge  of  the  authors 
considered  in  turn,  and  that  he  shall  from  time  to  time  pre- 
pare essays  of  his  own,  involving  individual  research. 


/"X 


y^}^^''' 


ENGLISH   AT   HARVAED   UNIVERSITY. 

PliOFKSSOR   BARRETT   WENDELL. 

During  the  present  year  (1893-94)  the  teachers  of  English 
at  Harvard  are  three  professors,  two  assistant  professors,  three 
instructors  appointed  for  terms  of  more  than  one  year,  five 
instructors  appointed  for  one  year,  and  seven  assistants,  —  a 
total  of  twenty.  During  the  present  year  these  teachers  have 
in  charge  nine  courses  and  seventeen  half-courses.  A  whole* 
course  at  Harvard  meets  three  hours  a  week  throughout  the 
year ;  and  a  half-course  either  three  (in  some  cases  two)  hours 
a  week  for  half  the  year,  or  once  a  week  for  the  whole.  In  ad- 
dition to  the  courses  actually  in  progress,  one  course  and  seven 
half-courses  announced  by  the  department  of  English  are  not 
given  this  year,  but  have  been  given  in  the  past,  and  will  be 
given  in  the  future,  alternating  with  some  of  those  now  in  hand. 

The  report  of  the  Dean  of  the  Faculty  of  Arts  and  Sciences 
for  the  preceding  year  (1892-93)  shows  that  the  state  of  affairs 
that  year,  which  may  be  taken  as  typical,  was  as  follows :  In 
nine  full  courses,  —  including  the  course  in  English  composi- 
tion prescribed  for  Freshmen,  which  numbered  499,  —  there 
were  52  graduate  students,  113  Seniors,  119  Juniors,  136 
Sophomores,  377  Freshmen,  88  special  students,  62  scientific 
students,  1  divinity  student,  and  3  law  students,  —  a  total  of 
952  enrolments.  In  thirteen  half-courses,  —  including  the 
courses  in  English  composition  prescribed  for  Sophomores 
and  for  Juniors,  which  together  numbered  648,  —  there  were 
58  graduate  students,  188  Seniors,  382  Juniors,  281  Sopho- 
mores, 12  Freshmen,  51   special   students,  25  scientific  stu- 

44 


ENGLISH   AT    HARVARD   UNIVERSITY.  45 

dents,  1  divinity  student,  3  law  students,  and  1  student  of 
agriculture  —  a  total  of  998  enrolments.  No  statistics  are 
available  as  to  how  many  of  these  students  were  enrolled  in 
more  than  one  of  the  courses  under  consideration.  These 
figures,  then,  are  valuable  chiefly  in  showing  the  amount  of 
teaching,  in  terms  of  courses  and  half-courses,  actually  de- 
manded from  the  teachers.  It  may  be  added,  however,  that, 
as  a  rule,  no  Freshman  is  admitted  to  an  elective  course  in 
English,  while  for  the  regular  half-course  in  English  com- 
position prescribed  for  Sophomores  there  is  an  alternative 
elective  full  course  in  the  same  subject,  in  which  last  year 
122  Sophomores  were  enrolled.  The  full  course  in  English 
composition  prescribed  for  Freshmen  and  the  half-courses  in 
the  same  subject  prescribed  for  the  two  years  following  com- 
prise all  the  required  work  in  English  at  Harvard. 

In  the  course  prescribed  for  Freshmen,  Professor  A.  S. 
Hill's  Principles  of  Rhetoric  is  used  as  a  text-book.  Lec- 
tures based  thereon  are  given,  and  also  lectures  dealing  with 
some  aspects  of  English  literature.  Of  these  lectures  stu- 
dents are  required  to  write  summaries.  Besides  this  written 
work,  every  member  of  the  class  writes  a  composition  in  the 
class-room  once  a  week ;  and  these  compositions  are  carefully 
criticised  by  the  teachers.  In  the  half-course  prescribed  for 
Sophomores,  lectures  are  given  on  exposition,  argument,  de- 
scription, and  narration ;  and  during  the  year  the  students 
write  twelve  themes  of  from  five  hundred  to  a  thousand 
words.  These  are  carefully  criticised  by  teachers,  and  gen- 
erally rewritten  by  the  students  with  this  criticism  in  mind. 
In  the  half -course  prescribed  for  Juniors,  lectures  are  given 
on  argument ;  and  the  students  make  one  formal  analysis  of 
a  masterpiece  of  argumentative  composition,  and  write  four 
arguments  —  known  as  "  f orensics  "  —  of  from  a  thousand  to 
fifteen  hundred  words.  Each  of  these  is  preceded  by  a  brief, 
which  is  criticised  by  a  teacher  before  the  forensic  is  written. 


46  THE  TEACHING   OF  ENGLISH. 

The  forensics  themselves  are  also  carefully  criticised  and 
usually  rewritten.  All  teachers  engaged  in  these  courses 
keep  frequent  office  hours  for  personal  conference  with  their 
pupils. 

Apart  from  these  courses,  all  the  work  in  English  at 
Harvard  is  elective.  Of  the  elective  courses,  only  one  —  an 
elementary  half-course  in  Anglo-Saxon  —  can  be  called  purely 
linguistic.  Three  courses  and  five  half-courses  may  be  de- 
scribed as  both  linguistic  and  literary.  These  deal  with 
various  specimens  of  English  literature  from  Beowulf  to 
Milton,  in  each  case  attending  both  to  the  literary  meaning 
of  the  matter  in  hand  and  to  grammatical  details  in  the 
broadest  sense  of  the  term.  One  full  course  and  five  half- 
courses  may  be  described  as  literary,  demanding  a  great 
amount  of  reading  and  critical  work  but  paying  no  attention 
to  linguistic  detail.  These  deal  with  various  periods  of  Eng- 
lish literature,  from  the  sixteenth  century  to  the  present 
time.  In  the  broader  sense  of  the  term,  all  these  courses  — 
linguistic  and  literary  alike  —  may  be  called  philological. 
Of  the  remaining  work,  two  courses  and  two  half-courses 
are  in  English  composition;  one  half-course  is  in  elocution; 
and  one  consists  of  oral  discussion  of  topics  in  history  and 
economics. 

There  is  no  sharp  distinction,  then,  between  literary  courses 
and  linguistic.  The  single  full  course  given  this  year  in 
literature  apart  from  linguistics  is  a  very  advanced  one  in 
special  research.  Of  the  teachers,  one  professor,  one  assistant 
professor,  and  one  instructor  concern  themselves  wholly  with 
the  work  classified  as  both  literary  and  linguistic.  All  the 
remaining  teachers  concern  themselves  more  or  less  with 
comiKJsition,  either  prescribed  or  elective.  The  courses  in 
literature  apart  from  linguistics  are  this  year  in  charge  of 
four  of  these  teachers  —  one  professor,  one  assistant  profes- 
sor, and  two  instructors. 


XT 

ENGLISH  AT  HARVARD  UNIY^g^^^X^^^,^        47 

Last  year  the  largest  elective  courses  were  in  composition, 
when  the  most  elementary  numbered  154,  and  the  next  148. 
The  largest  course  among  those  both  linguistic  and  literary 
was  one  in  Shakespeare,  which  numbered  111;  the  largest 
half-course  in  literature,  which  dealt  with  the  Eighteenth 
century,  numbered  122.  In  general,  the  courses  dealing  either 
linguistically  or  otherwise  with  the  earlier  periods  of  English 
literature  were  small  and  mature.  One,  of  the  nature  of  a 
"  seminary,"  so  called,  which  dealt  with  Early  English  metri- 
cal romances,  numbered  only  six,  all  graduate  students. 

In  the  courses  in  composition,  prescribed  and  elective 
alike,  little  importance  is  attached  to  theoretical  knowledge 
of  rhetoric  as  distinguished  from  constant  practice  in  writing 
under  the  most  minute  practicable  criticism.  In  the  two  full 
elective  courses  given  this  year,  the  students  write  both  daily 
themes  of  about  a  hundred  words  and  fortnightly  themes  of 
from  five  hundred  to  a  thousand  words.  This  work  is  fre- 
quently discussed  in  person  with  the  teachers,  who  for  this 
purpose  keep  office  hours  —  quite  distinct  from  regular  class- 
room appointments  —  averaging  five  hours  a  week.  It  will 
be  seen,  then,  that  the  use  of  text-books,  as  distinguished 
from  personal  instruction,  is  reduced  to  a  minimum.  The 
text-books  actually  in  use  have  been  written  for  the  purposes 
in  hand  by  the  teachers  who  use  them. 

Of  the  courses  in  linguistics  and  in  literature  alike  it  may 
be  said  that  no  text-books  are  generally  used.  In  linguistics 
the  student  must  naturally  provide  himself  with  a  good  stan- 
dard copy  of  the  text  under  consideration;  but  the  better 
part  of  the  comments  on  these  texts  is  supplied  by  the  actual 
teachers.  In  literature  the  student  is  always  sent  directly  to 
the  works  of  the  writers  under  consideration.  Of  these  he  is 
often  required  to  read  so  much  as  to  make  the  purchase  of 
the  works  in  question  impracticable.  In  such  event  students 
commonly  read  in  the  college  library,  where  as  many  copies 


48  THE   TEACHING   OF   ENGLISH. 

as  possible  of  the  works  under  consideration  are  reserved  for 
their  use.  In  no  course  in  literature  is  any  regular  text-book 
employed. 

In  the  matter  of  methods,  it  has  long  been  held  by  the 
teachers  of  English  at  Harvard  that  each  teacher's  best 
method  is  his  own.  When  a  course  is  given  into  a  man's 
charge,  then,  he  is  absolutely  free  to  conduct  it  in  any  way 
he  chooses.  The  natural  result  is  such  wide  divergence  of 
method  in  detail  that  no  valuable  generalization  concerning 
such  detail  can  be  made.  One  man  finds  recitations  useful, 
generally  interspersed  with  frequent  comment ;  another  gives 
lectures ;  a  third  prefers  personal  conference ;  a  fourth  finds 
the  best  results  coming  from  properly  directed  discussions  of 
special  topics  by  his  class,  —  and  so  on.  Furthermore,  in  cer- 
tain cases  the  methods  of  the  same  teacher  greatly  vary  with 
different  classes  and  at  different  times.  On  only  two  points, 
perhaps,  may  definite  agreement  among  the  teachers  be  as- 
serted: the  first  is  that  a  candidate  for  honors  in  English, 
in  addition  to  very  high  proficiency  in  six  elective  courses, 
ought  to  know  at  least  the  elements  of  Anglo-Saxon,  ought  to 
have  made  some  study  of  pure  literature,  and  ought  to  write 
respectably;  the  second  is  that  the  best  educational  results 
are  attainable  by  such  free  and  mutually  cordial  efforts  of 
teachers  differing  widely  in  temperament  and  special  interests 
as  we  at  present  enjoy. 

It  may  be  added  that  the  Secretary  of  Harvard  University 
will  gladly  send  to  any  applicant  a  pamphlet  describing  in 
detail  our  courses  in  English ;  and  that  any  teacher  of  Eng- 
lish at  Harvard  will  gladly  explain  his  actual  methods  to  any 
properly  accredited  inquirer.  Persons  seriously  interested  in 
these  methods,  then,  will  probably  find  a  visit  to  Harvard 
instructive. 


ENGLISH  AT  STANFORD  UNIVERSITY. 

PROFESSOR   MELVILLE    B.    ANDERSON. 

In  order  to  understand  the  purposes  and  methods  of  the 
English  courses  at  the  Leland  Stanford  Jr.  University,  it 
is  necessary  to  know  something  about  our  system  of  what  is 
technically  called  '*'  major  subjects."  At  the  beginning  of 
his  second  year  in  the  University  every  student  is  expected 
to  elect  a  specialty,  to  which  he  shall  devote  at  least  a 
third  of  his  time  throughout  his  undergraduate  course.  So 
soon  as  the  specialty,  or  major  subject,  has  been  chosen, 
the  professor  of  that  subject  becomes  the  student's  official 
adviser,  and  no  degree  is  granted  until  the  course  pursued 
by  the  student  shall  have  been  in  all  respects  satisfactory 
to  the  professor.  It  will  be  seen  that  this  system  combines 
the  advantages  of  great  freedom  of  election  on  the  part 
of  the  student,  with  those  of  direct,  close,  and  friendly 
supervision  on  the  part  of  an  expert.  Thus,  for  example,  if  a 
student  upon  entering  the  University  chooses  English  as  his 
major  subject,  he  is  expected  to  report  every  semester  to  one 
of  the  professors  of  English,  whose  approval  he  is  bound 
to  secure  for  the  course  he  elects.  Should  the  student  see 
fit  to  elect  certain  subjects  not  approved  by  his  major 
professor,  he  is  perfectly  free  to  do  so,  the  probable  result 
being  that  his  residence  at  the  University  will  be  so  much 
the  more  prolonged.  If,  therefore,  a  student  is  willing  either 
to  prolong  his  residence  or  to  renounce  the  hope  of  obtaining 
a  degree,  his  freedom  of  election  is  conditioned  only  upon 
his  competency  to  get  on  in  the  studies  elected.     The  usual 


60  THE  TEACHING  OF  ENGLISH. 

result  of  the  system  is  simply  this :  The  student  takes  the 
five  or  more  hours  of  work  in  English  (if  that  be  his 
specialty) ;  several  more  hours  in  collateral  subjects,  such 
as  Latin,  French,  German,  or  History,  are  recommended  by 
the  professor;  and  the  student  is  left  free  to  choose  for 
himself  such  other  subjects  as  may  attract  him. 

The  practical  working  of  this  system  has  hitherto  proved 
very  satisfactory.  Students  elect  for  the  most  part  only 
such  subjects  as  they  have  taste  or  talent  for,  and  professors 
have  the  pleasure  and  inspiration  of  working  with  earnest 
and  enthusiastic  men  and  women.  The  organic  quality  of 
a  course  thus  planned  from  semester  to  semester  by  the 
interested  student,  under  the  advice  of  his  professor,  turns 
out  to  be  far  superior  to  that  of  the  conventional  college 
curriculum.  Under  the  system  here  described,  the  graduate 
finds  himself  pretty  thoroughly  grounded  in  some  science, 
or  in  some  group  of  related  languages,  and  goes  out  into 
the  world,  not  indeed  master  of  a  specialty,  but  at  least 
interested  in  some  branch  of  rational  research,  and  versed 
in  the  apparatus  and  methods  essential  to  its  further  pur- 
suit. 

I  can  scarcely  define  the  aims  of  the  courses  in  English 
better  than  I  have  done  in  the  following  sentence  from  the 
University  Register:  "(1)  To  give  training  in  the  formu- 
lation and  expression  of  thought;  (2)  to  impart  a  scientific 
"knowledge  of  the  English  language  and  of  literary  history, 
English  and  European ;  (3)  to  acquaint  the  student  with  a 
juster  and  more  liberal  method  of  literary  criticism;  (4)  to 
introduce  him  to  literature  as  an  art  —  to  cultivate  a  refined 
appreciation  of  what  is  l)est,  and  thus  to  reveal  unfailing 
sources  of  pure  enjoyment." 

Before  proceeding  to  describe  the  courses,  it  may  be  well 
to  advert  briefly  to  the  English  preparation  exacted  for  ad- 
mission to  the  University.     The  requirements  for  admission 


ENGLISH   AT   STANFORD   UNIVERSITY.  51 

[  i 
were    at    first    modelled    upon    those    of    the    University   of 

California,  which  are  similar  to  those  of  the  New  England 
Association  of  Colleges ;  namely,  a  play  or  two  of  Shake- 
speare, the  Sir  Roger  de  Coverley  Papers,  a  story  of  Thack- 
eray, and  a  few  of  the  masterpieces  of  English  and 
American  poetry.  Under  this  system  the  examination  con- 
sists mainly  in  a  test  of  the  applicant's  ability  to  quote 
readily,  to  explain  allusions,  to  write  outlines  and  abstracts, 
and  in  various  ways  to  show  upon  paper  that  he  has  read 
and  digested  the  work  in  question.  While  this  system  is 
a  great  advance  upon  the  old  practice  of  requiring  an 
acquaintance  with  rhetoric  and  the  formal  side  of  grammar 
and  composition,  experience  shows  it  to  be  not  quite  suf- 
ficient. The  tendency  is  to  encourage  the  '^getting  up" 
of  a  certain  number  of  books,  and  the  cramming  of  a 
modicum  of  information  about  words  and  etymologies,  rather 
than  the  attainment  of  such  a  practical  acquaintance  with 
the  vernacular  as  a  student  needs  in  order  to  take  a  college 
course  successfully.  We  have  therefore  thought  it  wise  to 
lay  more  stress  upon  the  student's  preparation  in  composition 
than  has  hitherto  been  customary  in  our  secondary  schools. 
While  there  has  been  no  nominal  increase  in  the  require- 
ments for  admission  in  English,  it  has  become,  as  a  matter 
of  fact,  more  difficult  for  the  graduates  of  high  schools 
and  other  secondary  schools  to  satisfy  our  requirements. 
Thus,  out  of  perhaps  a  hundred  and  fifty  applicants  for  ad- 
mission in  English  at  the  beginning  of  the  present  year, 
only  some  forty  wrote  satisfactory  papers.  It  is  hoped 
that  our  course  in  adhering  rigidly  to  the  relatively  high, 
but  really  very  moderate,  standard  of  admission  in  English 
will  have  a  salutary  effect  upon  secondary  instruction  in 
California  and  elsewhere.  All  that  we  really  ask  on  the 
side  of  style  is  that  the  student  be  pretty  familiar  with  the 
mechanical  details  of  composition, — spelling,  punctuation,  cor- 


62  THE  TEACHING   OP  ENGLISH. 

rect  sentence  structure,  paragraphing,  and  the  like,  —  and  that 
he  be  able  to  express  himself  with  some  idiomatic  fluency. 

During  the  first  two  years  of  the  short  history  of  the 
English  department  here,  the  professors  were  worn  out 
with  the  drudgery  of  correcting  Freshman  themes,  —  work 
really  secondary  and  preparatory,  and  in  no  sense  forming 
a  proper  subject  of  collegiate  instruction.  This  year  in  ac- 
cordance Avith  the  programme  sketched  above,  we  have  abso- 
lutely refused  to  admit  to  our  >)ourses  students  unprepared 
to  do  real  collegiate  work.  The  Freshman  English  course 
in  theme-writing  has  been  eliminated  from  our  programme, 
and  has  been  turned  over  to  approved  teachers  and  to  the 
various  secondary  schools.  Had  this  salutary  innovation 
not  been  accomplished,  all  the  literary  courses  would  have 
been  swept  away  by  the  rapidly  growing  inundation  of 
Freshman  themes,  and  all  our  strength  and  courage  Avould 
have  been  dissipated  in  preparing  our  students  to  do  re- 
spectable work  at  more  happily  equipped  Universities. 
As  it  is,  no  student  is  admitted  to  the  course  in  English 
composition  until  he  has  acquired  the  proficiency  above 
indicated.  Instead,  therefore,  of  requiring  the  undivided 
attention  of  a  half-dozen  professors,  the  work  in  English 
composition  now  occupies  most  of  the  time  and  strength  of 
two.  It  is  plain,  however,  that  one  or  two  additional  in- 
structors in  this  important  division  of  the  work  will  be 
necessary  next  year.  It  would  be  bad  policy  to  allow  any 
instructor  to  devote  the  whole  of  his  attention  to  the  work 
in  English  composition;  for,  however  great  a  man's  enthu- 
siasm for  such  work  may  be,  it  is  incident  to  human 
nature  that  no  man  can  read  themes  efficiently  for  more 
than  three  hours  at  a  stretch,  and  that  the  professor  does 
his  theme-reading  more  intelligently  and  more  humanely 
when  a  portion  of  his  time  is  spent  in  research  preparatory 
to  higJier  instruction. 


ENGLISH  AT  STANFORD   UNIVERSITY.  53 

At  the  outset  of  his  university  career,  the  student  of 
English  is  advised  to  begin  or  continue  an  acquaintance  with 
one  or  two,  at  least,  of  the  chief  foreign  languages,  ancient 
or  modern.  It  is  also  suggested  that  he  make  himself 
proficient  in  some  one  of  the  natural  or  physical  sciences, 
in  order  that  he  may  not  remain  entirely  a  stranger  to  the 
great  current  of  positive  research  and  philosophy. 

Apart  from  the  advanced  work  in  English  composition 
and  forensics,  intended  to  qualify  the  student  to  express 
with  idiomatic  grace  and  logical  cogency  whatever  he  may 
have  to  say  or  to  write,  the  first  work  which  confronts  the 
student  of  English  at  Stanford  is  a  careful  study  of  some 
of  the  prose  writers  of  the  nineteenth  century :  such  as 
Macaulay,  De  Quincey,  Carlyle,  Savage  Landor,  Cardinal 
Newman,  Matthew  Arnold.  It  is  a  fact  that  the  majority 
of  students  enjoy  good  prose  at  an  earlier  stage  of  their 
culture  than  is  requisite  to  the  real  appreciation  of  poetry. 
It  is,  moreover,  observed  that  such  a  study  of  the  best  prose 
writers  gives  the  instructor  a  fine  opportunity  to  become  ac- 
quainted with  his  students,  and  to  throw  out  suggestions  that 
may  help  them  to  correct  or  cure  their  illiteracy.  Moreover, 
this  course  proves  an  invaluable  adjunct  to  the  course  in  com- 
position, inasmuch  as  nothing  conduces  more  to  the  mastery 
of  a  good  style  than  an  intimate  acquaintance  with  the  best 
models. 

The  majority  of  our  students  come  to  the  University  with 
little  Latin  and  less  Greek ;  and  even  those  who  come  to  us 
with  thorough  training  in  the  rudiments  of  one  or  both  of 
these  Cultur-Sprachen,  come  entirely  innocent  of  anything  in 
the  nature  of  a  comprehension  of  their  literary  masterpieces. 
It  has  therefore  been  thought  wise  to  offer  courses  in  ancient 
and  foreign  classics,  treated  through  the  medium  of  transla- 
tions. Professor  Newcomer  is  now  conducting  such  a  course 
in  Homer  and  Dante,  devoting  one  semester  to  each  of  these 


54  THE  TEACHING   OF  ENGLISH. 

great  poets  —  whose  works,  Mr.  Lowell  not  long  ago  told  us, 
count  among  the  five  indispensable  books  of  the  world. 
These  courses  are  largely  attended  by  interested  and 
earnest  students,  some  of  whom  are  acquainted  with  the  clas- 
sical languages,  but  most  of  whom  are  not.  I  may  say  that 
Professor  Moulton's  a  priori  views  as  to  the  advantage  of 
courses  like  this  are  fully  borne  out  by  our  experience  so  far. 
If  anything  like  a  systematic  and  thorough  reading,  even  of 
the  five  indispensable  authors  enumerated  by  Mr.  Lowell,  is 
to  be  secured  on  the  part  of  the  majority  of  educated  men  and 
women  in  this  busy  modern  world,  it  must  be  by  some  such 
means  as  this.  At  all  events,  from  the  standpoint  of 
the  English  teacher  merely,  we  count  the  time  not  lost  that 
is  spent  in  acquainting  students,  as  thoroughly  as  may  be 
through  translations,  with  at  least  a  few  of  the  masterpieces 
of  the  ancient  and  mediaeval  world. 

Possibly  some  may  find  it  difiicult  to  understand  why 
authors  belonging  to  such  remote  times  and  diverse  languages 
are  to  be  included  in  courses  in  English.  But  how  can  one 
study  modern  poetry  without  knowing  something,  for  exam- 
ple, of 

"Thebes  and  Pelops'  line, 
Or  the  tale  of  Troy  divine  ?  " 

And  how  can  an  acquaintance  with  these  great  quarries  of 
imaginative  literature  be  better  obtained,  on  the  part  of  the 
non-classical  student,  than  by  the  study  of  a  goofl  translation 
of  Homer  and  of  translations  of  a  few  typical  masterpieces 
of  the  Athenian  stage  ?  These  last  are  not  neglected.  The 
course  in  the  ancient  classical  drama,  studied  from  transla- 
tions, is  similar  in  aim  to  the  course  in  Homer  and  Dante,  the 
latter  being  introductory  to  Spenser  and  Milton  especially, 
the  former  to  the  general  study  of  Shakespeare.  In  the  suc- 
ceeding semester  an  introductory  course  in  Shakespeare  is 
undertaken,   which  is  not  only   an  attempt   at  an  inductive 


ENGLISH   AT   STANFORD   UNIVERSITY.  55 

study  of  methods  of  dramatic  construction,  but  also  a  general 
survey  of  Shakespeare's  life  and  times,  his  art  and  his 
thought. 

In  what  follows,  in  order  to  prevent  confusion,  I  shall  des- 
ignate the  courses  by  the  numbers  by  which  they  are  known 
to  us. 

Course  26  is  a  critical  study  of  a  few  plays  of  Shake- 
speare, involving  a  collation  of  such  of  the  quarto  and  folio 
editions  as  may  be  obtainable  in  cheap  reprints.  At  present, 
for  example,  the  class  is  engaged  in  the  task  of  constructing 
a  text  of  Hamlet  based  upon  Victor's  reprints  of  the  first  and 
second  quartos  and  the  first  folio  (1623).  Members  of  this 
class  are  advised  to  make  no  use  of  the  work  of  modern 
editors,  but  to  do  their  best  to  form  from  the  original  editions 
such  a  text  as  the  author  himself  would  have  approved,  thus 
putting  themselves  back  into  a  time  immediately  succeeding 
the  author's  death  and  the  publication  of  the  first  collected 
edition  of  his  writings.  The  value  of  such  work  as  this  for 
the  acquirement  of  a  sense  of  what  Shakespearian  scholarship 
means,  and,  still  better,  for  the  attainment  of  fine  taste  and 
discrimination  in  matters  of  textual  criticism,  should  be  too 
obvious  to  require  comment.  Of  course  such  a  class  as  this 
must  necessarily  be  small,  both  for  the  attainment  of  the  best 
results  and  because  only  the  more  advanced  undergraduates 
are  capable  of  profiting  by  work  of  such  critical  character. 
Indeed,  as  matters  stand  at  present,  this  course  is  better 
suited  to  the  graduate  student  than  to  any  but  the  more 
thoroughly  trained  undergraduates. 

Among  the  courses  preliminary  to  this  more  advanced 
Shakespearian  study  I  should  have  mentioned  Course  16,  de- 
voted to  the  Pre-Shakespearian  Drama  and  to  the  contempo- 
raries of  Shakespeare,  as  well  as  to  a  more  cursory  review 
of  the  growth  and  development  of  the  modern  European 
drama,  especially  in  Spain,  Italy,  and  Fra,nce.        In  like  man- 


66  THE  TEACHING  OF  ENGLISH. 

ner,  Course  17  is  in  a  sense  introductory  to  the  study  of  Mil- 
ton, being  a  survey  of  the  minor  poets  of  the  sixteenth  and 
seventeenth  centuries,  from  TottePs  Miscellany  to  the  death 
of  Dryden.  As  at  present  conducted  by  Professor  Lathrop, 
this  course  is,  however,  by  no  means  elementary,  involving  as 
it  does  the  study  and  the  attempted  solution  of  many  obscure 
and  vexed  questions  of  literary  history. 

Course  18  involves  a  review  of  the  more  noteworthy  lit- 
erary masters  of  the  English  Literature  of  the  eighteenth 
century,  together  with  a  somewhat  philosophical  treatment 
of  the  uniquely  intimate  and  extremely  interesting  relations 
between  literature  and  life  in  that  time,  —  a  time  which  more 
than  any  other  rang  out  the  old  and  rang  in  the  new. 

Courses  19  and  20,  given  by  Professor  Hudson  in  alternate 
years,  are  respectively  a  comparative  study  of  the  chief 
movements  and  tendencies  of  contemporary  literature,  and 
a  review  of  the  novelists  of  the  present  century,  together 
with  a  brief  treatment  of  the  earlier  development  of  the  novel. 

Courses  24  and  25,  given  in  alternate  years,  are  respec- 
tively devoted  to  the  study  of  Edmund  Spenser  and  of  John 
Milton.  In  the  case  of  Spenser  a  critical  examination  is 
made  of  his  chief  poems,  with  special  reference  to  their  liter- 
ary and  ethical  qualities,  and  to  the  influence  of  Spenser 
upon  other  poets ;  and  in  the  case  of  Milton  the  additional 
effort  is  made  to  realize  his  character  and  the  relation  of  his 
activity  to  the  time  in  which  he  lived. 

Course  27  is  a  reading  course,  devoted  to  the  somewhat 
cursory  but  not  necessarily  superficial  reading  and  interpre- 
tation of  characteristic  longer  and  shorter  poems  by  Words- 
worth, Byron,  Shelley,  Keats,  and  Coleridge. 

Course  21,  to  which  three  hours  a  week  through  the  year 
are  devoted,  is  a  study  of  the  history  of  American  literature 
and  of  the  most  significant  works  of  representative  writers. 
In  this,  as  in  all  other  courses  in  literature,  students  are  in 


ENGLISH   AT   STANFORD   UNIVERSITY.  57 

every  way  incited  to  possess  themselves  of  the  complete 
works  of  the  principal  masters  studied. 

Professor  Fliigel's  undergraduate  work  consists  of  one  ele- 
mentary course  in  Anglo-Saxon,  and  one  in  Chaucer,  each  three 
hours  weekly  through  the  year.  The  main  aim  of  the  former 
is  to  introduce  the  student  to  the  spirit  of  Anglo-Saxon  liter- 
ature, and  to  give  him  facility  in  translating,  less  stress  being 
laid  upon  phonological  and  grammatical  details.  Inasmuch  as 
all  students  who  make  English  their  "  major  "  are  required  to 
take  this  course,  and  as  better  results  may  be  gained  in 
smaller  classes,  this  first  year's  class  in  Anglo-Saxon  will  be 
divided  into  two  sections,  in  charge  of  two  recently  appointed 
assistants. 

From  the  foregoing  outline  it  will  be  noted  that  relatively 
considerable  attention  is  given  to  the  direct  study  of  the  texts 
of  the  great  classic  authors  who  illustrate  English  literature ; 
and  that,  although  literary  history  is  by  no  means  neglected, 
it  is  nearly  everywhere  made  subordinate  to  the  supreme  aim 
of  introducing  the  student  largely  to  the  best  literature.  It 
seems  almost  superfluous  to  add  that,  while  every  professor 
employs  his  own  ijiethod  of  instruction,  no  one  employs  the 
text-book  method.  Independent  first-hand  study,  and  candor 
in  the  statement  of  the  results  gained  by  such  study,  are  inva- 
riably encouraged. 

A  word  in  conclusion  with  reference  to  that  portion  of  our 
work  which,  from  the  scholar's  standpoint,  is  most  interesting, 
if  not  most  important ;  namely,  the  philological  and  literary 
seminaries  for  graduate  students.  It  should  be  noted  that 
a  considerable  proportion  of  the  undergraduate  courses  are 
adapted  to  the  needs  of  graduates  of  other  colleges,  and  of 
graduates  of  the  University  in  other  courses  than  English ; 
but  for  the  attainment  of  the  advanced  degrees  of  Master  and 
Doctor  in  English  literature  and  philology,  every  such  stu- 
dent is  required  to  become  a  member  of  the  two  seminaries. 


58  THE  TEACHING  OF  ENGLISH. 

It  is  impossible  here  to  enter  into  descriptive  details  with 
respect  to  this  branch  of  the  work.  At  present  all  of  the 
five  professors  of  English  are  so  largely  engrossed  with  the 
numerous  undergraduate  courses,  that  too  little  time  is  left  to 
devote  to  the  needs  of  advanced  students ;  still,  the  seminary 
course  is  by  no  means  entirely  neglected. 

The  advanced  courses  in  philology  consist  entirely  of  lec- 
tures on  historical  English  grammar,  on  Old  and  Middle  Eng- 
lish literature,  and  on  Beowulf  (seminary).  With  these  will  be 
given  in  alternate  years  a  seminary  course  on  King  Alfred 
and  his  time  (four  hours  weekly  through  the  year)  ;  a  course 
in  Early  English  lyrical  poetry  from  the  Anglo-Saxon  times 
to  the  Reformation  (three  hours  through  the  year)  ;  and  a 
history  of  Early  English  metrics. 

An  additional  course  is  given  on  Early  English  palaeograr 
phy,  intended  as  a  general  introduction  to  the  Schriftwesen 
of  Old  England,  to  the  reading  of  English  MSS.,  and  to 
studies  in  textual  criticism.  Skeat's  facsimiles,  and  a  num- 
ber of  photographs  of  Old  English  MSS.,  prepared  especially 
for  this  class,  are  placed  in  the  student's  hands. 

The  literary  seminary  is  conducted  in  two  divisions :  one, 
under  the  charge  of  Professor  Hudson,  is  devoted  this  year  to 
the  development  of  the  modern  novel ;  the  other,  conducted 
by  myself,  is  now  pursuing  a  comparative  study  of  the  chief 
works  of  Tennyson  and  Browning,  and,  incidentally,  of 
the  predecessors  of  Tennyson  —  that  is,  of  the  authors  to 
whom  Tennyson  seems  either  stylistically  or  spiritually  most 
indebted.  It  should  be  understood  that  the  subjects  of  the 
Seminary  courses  vary  from  year  to  year,  and  that,  even 
when  it  seems  best  to  deal  with  the  same  subject  in  two  suc- 
cessive years,  the  method  of  treatment  and  the  sequence  of 
topics  is  such  that  the  same  individual  may  continue  the 
study  with  profit. 

I  have  been  requested  to  add  a  few  statistics.      Last  year 


ENGLISH  AT   STANFORD   UNIVERSITY.  59 

six  professors  gave  instruction  in  thirty  English  courses,  to  a 
total  of  seven  hundred  and  seventy  students,  counting  by  class 
registration.  The  total  number  of  individuals  receiving  in- 
struction in  English  was  not  far  from  four  hundred  and  fifty. 
The  total  number  of  hours  per  week  occupied  by  the  lectures 
of  these  six  professors  was  fifty-one  in  the  first  and  fifty-six 
in  the  second  semester.  The  number  of  lectures  or  recitations 
per  week  required  of  each  professor  varies  from  eight  to  ten. 
The  number  of  students  receiving  instruction  this  year^  is 
smaller  than  last  year,  owing  to  the  severer  requirements  in 
English  composition.  The  number  of  professors  is  now  five  : 
a  professor  of  English  literature,  a  professor  of  English 
philology,  an  associate  professor  of  English  literature,  and 
two  assistant  professors.  There  are  also  two  "assistants  in 
English,"  and  additional  appointments  are  contemplated. 

1  This  article  was  first  printed  in  March,  1891.  Inasmuch  as  the  some- 
what numerous  changes  which  the  courses  have  undergone  since  that  time 
are,  after  all,  matters  of  detail,  and  can  be  ascertained  from  the  current 
University  announcements,  it  has  been  thought  best  to  reprint  the  whole  as 
first  written.  The  statistical  information  also  represents  the  present  state 
of  things  sufficiently  well.  Unfortunately,  however,  we  have  not  been  able 
to  carry  out  the  intention  expressed  in  the  last  sentence  of  the  article. 

M.  B.  A. 


V,      ENGLISH   AT   CORNELL   UNIVERSITY,  i 

r     '  PROFESSOR   HIRAM    CORSON. 

At  Cornell  University,  lectures  are  given  on  English 
literature,  poetical  and  prose,  from  the  fourteenth  to  the 
nineteenth  century  inclusive,  in  eight  groups,  of  which 
Chaucer,  Spenser,  Shakespeare,  Milton,  Dryden,  Pope,  Words- 
worth, Browning  and  Tennyson,  are  made  the  central  figures. 
The  lectures  are  given  daily,  except  Saturday,  and  to  the 
same  class,  so  that  there  are  about  two  hundred  lectures  given 
during  the  academic  year.  A  large  portion  of  the  class  are 
special  students  who  have  come  to  devote  most  of  their  time 
to  English  literature.  They,  accordingly,  do  a  great  deal  of 
reading  in  connection  with  the  lectures.  It  is  made  a  special 
object  of  the  lectures  to  bring  the  students  into  direct  relation- 
ship with  the  authors  treated,  and  hence  much  reading  is 
introduced.  The  literature  is  presented  mainly  in  its  essen- 
tial character,  rather  than  in  its  historical,  though  the  latter 
receives  attention,  but  not  such  as  to  set  the  minds  of  students 
in  that  direction.  It  is  considered  of  prime  importance  that 
they  should  first  attain  to  a  sympathetic  appreciation  of  what 
is  essential  and  intrinsic,  before  the  adventitious  features  of 
literature  —  features  due  to  time  and  place  —  be  considered. 
What  is  regarded  as  of  great,  of  chief,  importance,  indeed,  in 
literary  study,  in  some  of  our  institutions  of  learning,  namely, 
the  relations  of  works  of  genius  to  their  several  times  and 
places  (miscalled  the  philosophy  of  literature),  is  of  the  least 
importance,  so  far  as  culture,  in  its  truest  sense,  is  concerned. 
Literature  is  thus  made  chiefly  an  intellectual  and  philosophi- 

1  Properly  speaking:,  the  title  ot  this  paper  should  be  "  English  Literature 
at  Cornell  University,"  as  no  attempt  is  made  to  discuss  the  subject  of  Eng- 
lish on  the  linguistic  side.  — Edr. 

00 


ENGLISH   AT   CORNELL   UNIVERSITY.  61 

cal  study ;  its  true  function,  namely,  to  quicken  the  spiritual 
faculties,  is  quite  shut  off.  An  exclusively  intellectual  atti- 
tude is  taken  toward  what  is  a  production  of  the  whole  man, 
as  a  thinking,  emotional,  imaginative,  moral,  and  religious 
being  —  a  production  which  can  be  adequately  responded  to 
only  by  one  in  whom  these  several  attributes  are,  in  some 
degree,  active  ;  and  literary  education  should  especially  aim 
after  their  activity  ;  should  aim  to  bring  the  student  into  sym- 
pathetic relationship  with  the  permanent  and  the  eternal  — 
with  that  which  is  independent  of  time  and  place. 

There  is  danger,  too,  in  presenting  literature  to  young  peo- 
ple in  its  historical  relations,  and  in  "philosophizing"  about 
it,  of  turning  out  cheap  and  premature  philosophers.  A  work 
of  genius  renders  the  best  service  when  it  is  assimilated  in  its 
absolute  character.  All  great  works  of  genius  are  intimately 
related  to  the  several  times  and  places  in  which  they  were 
produced ;  and  it  is  important  to  know  these  relations,  in  the 
proper  time  —  when  the  "years  that  bring  the  philosophic 
mind ''  have  been  reached,  not  before.  But  it  is  far  more  im- 
portant to  know  the  relations  of  these  works  to  the  universal, 
to  the  absolute,  to  that  which  is  alive  forevermore,  by  virtue 
of  which  alone  they  continue  to  live.  Mrs.  Browning,  in 
her  Aurora  Leigh,  speaks  of  great  poets  as  "  the  only  truth- 
tellers  now  left  to  God  —  the  only  speakers  of  essential  truth, 
opposed  to  relative,  comparative,  and  temporal  truths ;  the 
only  holders  by  his  sun-skirts,  through  conventional  gray 
glooms." 

The  mode  in  which  genius  manifests  itself,  at  certain  times, 
in  certain  places,  and  under  certain  circumstances,  may  be 
explained  to  some  extent ;  but  the  genius  itself  cannot  be  ex- 
plained. Environments  stimulate  or  suppress,  they  do  not 
and  cannot  make  genius.  The  causes  which  bring  it  nearer 
to  the  essential  world  than  men  in  general  are  brought,  we 
cannot  know.      The  explanation  which  can  be  given  of  its 


62  THE  TEACHING  OF   ENGLISH. 

mode  of  manifestation  should  be  called  the  physiology,  not 
the  philosophy,  of  literature. 

And  how  is  the  best  response  to  the  essential  life  of  a 
poem  to  be  secured  by  the  teacher  from  the  pupil  ?  I  answer, 
by  the  fullest  interpretative  vocal  rendering  of  it.  On  the 
part  of  the  teacher,  two  things  are  indispensable :  first,  that 
he  sympathetically  assimilate  what  constitutes  the  real  life  of 
the  poem;  second,  that  he  have  that  vocal  cultivation  de- 
manded for  an  effective  rendering  of  what  he  has  assimilated. 
Lecturing  about  poetry  does  not,  of  itself,  avail  any  more  for 
poetical  cultivation  than  lecturing  about  music  avails,  of  itself, 
for  musical  cultivation.  Both  may  be  valuable,  in  the  way  of 
giving  shape  to,  or  organizing,  what  has  previously  been  felt 
to  some  extent ;  but  they  cannot  take  the  place  of  inward  ex- 
perience. Vocal  interpretation,  too,  is  the  most  effective  mode 
of  cultivating  in  students  a  susceptibility  to  form  —  that  uni- 
fication of  matter  and  manner  upon  which  so  much  of  the 
vitality  and  effectiveness  of  expressed  spiritualized  thought 
depend. 

There  is  no  true  estimate,  among  the  leaders  in  the  educa- 
tional world,  of  what  vocal  culture,  worthy  of  the  name,  costs ; 
and  the  kind  of  encouragement  which  it  receives  from  them  is 
in  keeping  with  their  estimate.  A  system  of  vocal  training 
should  be  instituted  in  the  lower  schools  which  would  give 
pupils  complete  command  of  the  muscles  of  articulation,  ex- 
tend the  compass  of  the  voice,  and  render  it  smooth,  powerful, 
and  melodious.  A  power  of  varied  intonation  should  be  es- 
pecially cultivated,  as  it  is  through  intonation  that  the  reader's 
sympathies  are  conducted^  and  the  hearer^s  sympathies  are 
secured. 

The  reading  voice  demands  as  much,  and  as  systematic 
and  scientific,  cultivation,  for  the  interpretation  of  the  master- 
pieces of  poetical  and  dramatic  literature,  as  the  singing  voice 
demands  for  the  rendering  of  the  masterpieces  of  music.     But 


ENGLISH   AT   CORNELL   UNIVERSITY.  63 

what  a  ridiculous  contrast  is  presented  by  the  methods  usu- 
ally employed  for  the  training  of  the  reading  voice,  and  those 
employed,  as  in  conservatories  of  music,  for  the  training  of 
the  singing  voice ! 

To  return  to  the  other  work  in  the  Department  of  English 
Literature  at  Cornell :  — 

Keadings  are  given  by  me  every  Saturday  morning, 
throughout  the  academic  year,  from  English  and  American 
prose  writers.  These  are  open  to  all  students  and  to  any  visi- 
tors who  may  wish  to  avail  themselves  of  them.  The  attend- 
ance is  generally  large.  The  selections  read  are  chiefly  such 
as  bear  upon  life  and  character,  literature  and  art.  The 
present  year  they  have  been,  thus  far,  from  essays  of  George 
Eliot,  Professor  Dowden,  Mr.  Ruskin,  Mr.  Leslie  Stephen 
Matthew  Arnold,  Emerson,  Lowell,  Miss  Frances  Power  Cobbe, 
and  some  other  essayists.  The  regular  members  of  the  class 
afterwards  read  for  themselves  the  compositions  entire  from 
which  the  selections  are  made,  and  many  are  inspired  to  read 
further  from  the  same  authors. 

There  are  four  English  literature  seminaries,  devoted, 
severally,  to  nineteenth  century  prose  not  including  novels, 
seventeenth  and  eighteenth  century  prose  not  including  nov- 
els, novelists  of  the  nineteenth  century,  and  novelists  of  the 
eighteenth  century.  The  seminaries  are  open  to  graduates, 
special  students,  and  to  undergraduates  who  have  maintained 
a  high  rank  in  the  lecture  courses.  A  work  is  assigned  to 
each  member  of  a  seminary,  of  which  he  or  she  makes  a  care- 
ful study,  and  embodies  the  result  in  a  paper  which  is  read  in 
the  seminary  and  afterwards  discussed  by  the  members,  each 
member  having  been  required  to  read  in  advance  the  work  in 
hand.  The  papers  bear  chiefly,  almost  exclusively,  on  what 
is  understood  by  their  authors  to  constitute  the  life,  the  in- 
forming spirit,  the  moral  proportion,  the  motives,  of  the  works 
treated.     The  merely  technical  is  only  incidentally,  if  at  all. 


;| 


64  THE  TEACHING   OF  ENGLISH. 

treated.  The  present  year,  essays  have  been  read  on  all  the 
novels  of  George  Eliot,  and  her  poem,  The  Spanish  Gijpsy^ 
the  seminary  consisting  of  twenty-seven  members.  All  the 
essays  have  been  of  high  merit,  showing  much  insight  into 
George  Eliot's  "  interpretation  of  life." 

It  should  be  added  that  twelve  plays  of  Shakespeare  are 
read  by  me  during  the  present  academic  year,  so  cut  down  as 
to  occupy  two  hours  each  in  the  reading.  It  is  purposed  so  to 
read,  in  a  separate  course,  next  year,  the  thirty^seven  plays, 
two  hours  a  week  to  be  devoted  to  each  play.  I  would  also 
add  that  by  the  end  of  the  present  year  I  shall  have  read 
entire,  with  requisite  comment,  to  an  outside  class  composed 
of  graduate  and  special  students.  Browning's  The  Ring  and 
the  Book.  The  educating  value  of  this  great  poem  is  of  the 
highest  character,  embodying,  as  it  does,  the  poet's  ideal  of  a 
sanctified  intellect. 


ENGLISH   AT   THE   UNIVEESITY   OF   VIRGINIA. 

PROFESSOR   CHARLES   W.    KENT. 

It  has  been  pointed  out  by  Professor  March  that  the 
study  of  English  in  America  may  be  traced  to  two  men,  Noah 
Webster  and  Thomas  Jefferson.  It  is  well  known  that  as 
early  as  1818  Mr.  Jefferson  included  Anglo-Saxon  "  as  a  part 
of  the  circle  of  instruction  to  be  given  to  the  students  "  of 
his  projected  university.  When  the  University  of  Virginia 
was  finally  opened,  in  1825,  Anglo-Saxon  was  included  in  the 
courses  offered,  and  from  that  day  to  the  present  it  has 
always  been  given.  But  it  was  intrusted,  along  with  some 
eight  or  ten  modern  languages,  to  Dr.  Blatterman,  whose 
time  must  have  been  very  fully  occupied.  After  him,  Dr. 
Kraitsir  occupied  the  chair  for  two  years ;  and  in  1844  Dr.  M. 
Scheie  DeVere  entered  upon  his  distinguished  career,  which 
with  the  end  of  the  present  session  rounds  out  its  fifty  years. 
It  is  computed  that  since  the  establishment  of  the  University 
about  seven  hundred  students  have  elected  courses  in  Anglo- 
Saxon.  But  the  influence  of  Jefferson  was  not  limited  to  the 
University  of  Virginia.  Professor  March,  trained  under  the 
Websterian  influence,  but  acquainted  by  residence  in  Virginia 
with  the  work  of  the  University  of  Virginia,  was  called  in 
1857  to  Lafayette  College,  where  "  English  and  Anglo-Saxon 
as  a  separate  department  of  philological  study  co-ordinate 
with  Latin  and  Greek  "  was  first  recognized.  The  influence 
that  had  previously  led  to  the  study  of  English  at  Lafayette 
was  Jeffersonian.  Professor  March  says,  "  Mr.  Jefferson's 
plans  for  his  university  attracted  attention  through  the  whole 

65 


66  THE  TEACHING  OF  ENGLISH. 

country,  and  it  was  very  likely  on  their  suggestion  that  the 
founders  of  Lafayette  College,  which  was  chartered  in  1826, 
made  the  study  of  Anglo-Saxon  and  English  prominent  in 
their  proposed  curriculum." 

There  is  a  tradition  —  how  well-grounded  it  is  impossible 
to  say  without  further  examination  —  that  the  first  distinc- 
tive course  in  English  literature  ever  offered  in  America  was 
planned  and  carried  out  by  three  University  of  Virginia  grad- 
uates, who  were  associated  in  the  management  of  a  school  for 
young  ladies.  But  the  interest  in  the  English  language  and 
literature,  indicated  by  the  importance  attached  to  them  by 
the  founder  of  the  University  and  her  sons,  did  not  manifest 
itself  in  any  very  active  development  of  their  study.  These 
subjects,  at  first  assigned  to  the  chairs  of  modern  languages 
and  of  philosophy,  and  later  grouped  in  part  with  history, 
were  not  recognized  as  a  distinct  department  until  1882,  when 
Professor  James  M.  Garnett  was  elected  professor  of  English 
language  and  literature.  Ten  years  later,  in  1892,  the 
Board  of  Visitors  created  the  Linden  Kent  Memorial  School 
of  English  Literature.  The  establishment  of  this  chair  ena- 
bles Professor  Garnett  to  devote  his  entire  time  to  English 
language,  while  the  new  chair  includes  rhetoric  and  belles 
lettres,  besides  English  literature. 

With  the  full  freedom  of  election  characteristic  of  this 
institution  since  its  foundation,  young  men  may  pursue 
courses  in  either  or  both  of  these  schools.  In  the  School  of 
the  English  Language,  B.A.,  M.A.,  and  Ph.D.  courses  are 
offered.     A  synopsis  of  these  courses  is  herewith  given :  — 

B.A.  Course :  Modem  English.  —  In  this  class  the  study 
of  the  English  drama  and  of  the  descriptive  history  of  the 
language  is  pursued.  Shakespeare  is  made  a  special  subject. 
of  study.  The  critical  study  of  one  or  two  plays  of  Shake- 
speare, with  private  reading  of  about  a  fourth  of  the  plays,  is 
followed  by  similar  study  of  selected  works  of  other  dramatic 


ENGLISH   AT   THE   UNIVERSITY   OF   VIRGINIA.         67 

authors.  Lectures  on  the  history  of  the  Elizabethan  drama 
are  given  in  connection  with  the  study  of  Shakespeare.  These 
treat  the  early  dramatic  forms  prevalent  in  England,  the  rise 
of  regular  comedy  and  tragedy,  the  pre-Shakespearian  drama- 
tists, the  Shakespearian  period,  and  the  post-Shakespearian 
dramatists  to  the  close  of  the  theatres  in  1642.  The  study  of 
the  English  drama  occupies  the  first  half -session ;  that  of  the 
history  of  English  treated  from  an  elementary  point  of  view? 
the  second  half-session.  The  course  closes  with  the  reading 
of  some  work  in  practical  illustration  of  the  formation  of 
English.  The  aim  is  to  give  such  a  knowledge  of  the  history 
of  the  language  as  every  educated  man  should  possess.  Three 
lectures  a  week  are  given. 

The  object  of  the  B.A.  course  is  to  treat  specific  periods 
of  the  language  from  both  a  philological  and  literary  point 
of  view,  stress  being  laid  upon  the  former ;  and  the  Shake- 
spearian period  has  been  selected  as  that  best  suited  to  the 
beginner,  and  perhaps  the  most  interesting. 

M.A.  Course :  Old  and  Middle  English.  —  In  this  class 
the  historical  and  philological  study  of  the  language  is  pur- 
sued, the  class  beginning  ^ith  its  oldest  forms,  and  tracing 
the  language,  by  the  study  of  specimens,  through  its  different 
periods  to  the  formation  of  modern  English.  After  a  thor- 
ough study  of  the  grammar,  selected  pieces  of  Old  and 
Middle  English  prose  and  poetry  are  read,  with  a  view  to 
acquiring  a  philological  knowledge  of  the  origin  and  structure 
of  English.  Lectures  on  the  position  of  English  in  the  Indo- 
European  family  of  languages,  and  on  the  history  of  the 
language,  are  also  given.  These  treat  in  outline  the  other 
branches  of  the  Indo-European  family  of  languages,  and  in 
detail  the  Teutonic  branch.  Special  stress  is  laid  upon  the 
development  of  the  language  during  the  Old  and  Middle  Eng- 
lish periods,  and  the  infusion  of  the  Romance  elements  which 
so  greatly  affected  its  character.     The  study  of  Old  English 


68  THE  TEACHING  OF  ENGLISH. 

(Anglo-Saxon)  occupies  the  first  half-session ;  that  of  Middle 
English  the  second  half-session.  In  addition  to  what  is  read 
in  class,  assigned  parallel  reading  of  Old  and  Middle  English 
works  is  also  required.  It  is  well  for  the  student  to  have 
studied  the  history  of  English  as  given  in  the  class  of  Modern 
English,  or  some  similar  course,  before  entering  upon  the 
study  of  the  course  in  Old  and  Middle  English,  although  this 
is  not  essential,  as  the  two  may  be  studied  together.  Some 
antecedent  philological  study  is,  however,  necessary.  The 
aim  is  to  lay  the  foundation  for  more  advanced  studies  in 
English  philology.     There  are  three  lectures  a  week. 

Ph.D.  Course.  — In  this  course,  to  which  the  M.A.  course 
is  a  necessary  preparation,  the  method  pursued  is  freer,  and 
the  taste  of  the  individual  student  is  consulted  to  a  greater 
degree.  The  more  advanced  study  of  English  philology  is 
the  general  subject;  and  whether  the  students  shall  accom- 
plish this  by  a  more  extensive  reading  of  Old  and  Middle 
English  works,  or  by  a  study  of  Gothic  as  the  basis  for  com- 
parative study  of  the  Teutonic  languages,  is  left  to  the  stu- 
dent himself.  In  either  case,  encouragement  to  individual 
research  is  given  by  the  requirement  of  a  dissertation  on 
some  subject  cognate  with  the  course  pursued.  In  all  classes 
the  work  is  not  limited  to  that  assigned  for  class-preparation, 
but  a  course  of  parallel  or  private  reading  is  prescribed,  on 
which  also  the  class  is  duly  examined. 

In  the  Linden  Kent  Memorial  School  of  English  Litera- 
ture, as  in  the  School  of  the  English  Language,  three  courses 
are  offered. 

B.A.  Course.  —  The  class  meets  three  hours  a  week 
throughout  the  session.  For  convenience  of  presentation,  the 
course  is  divided  as  follows  :  — 

1.  Rhetoric.  This  comprises  a  careful  study  of  the  prin- 
ciples of  style  and  of  invention  in  prose  discourse,  with  exer- 
cise in  essay-writing,  and  in  the  critical  analysis  of  selected 
specimens  of  English  prose. 


ENGLISH   AT   THE  UNIVERSITY   OF   VIRGINIA.  69 

2.  Versification.  This  course  is  based  on  the  professor's 
notes  on  poetics.  The  lectures  discuss  theories  and  princi- 
ples of  versification,  morphology  of  verse,  history  of  verse 
forms,  kinds  of  poetry,  etc.  Class  exercises  of  various  kinds 
are  assigned  from  time  to  time. 

3.  History  of  English  Literature.  This  course  comprises  : 
(a)  Lectures  on  the  development  of  English  literature  prior 
to  Chaucer ;  (b)  English  literature  from  Chaucer  to  Dryden ; 
(c)  English  literature  from  Anne  to  Victoria. 

Besides  general  references  published  in  the  Catalogue, 
numerous  special  references  for  authors,  periods,  works,  etc., 
are  given  throughout  the  course.  In  addition  to  the  various 
written  exercises  of  the  class,  five  essays  are  required  of  each 
student  applying  for  graduation  in  the  B.A.  course. 

M.A.  Course.  —  In  this  course  there  are  occasional  lec- 
tures, but  in  general  the  exercises  of  the  class  are  conducted 
by  means  of  questions,  conversations,  and  conference.  Eead- 
ings  are  assigned,  independent  investigations  insisted  upon 
and  written  reports  required  from  time  to  time.  The  students 
are  encouraged  to  form  their  own  judgments,  and  to  express 
these  orally  and  in  writing.  Keferences  for  each  author  or 
period  studied  are  given,  and  the  free  use  of  the  library  in  this 
and  all  courses  is  cordially  recommended.  There  are  four  and 
a  half  hours  a  week.  As  an  essential  part  of  this  course  a  dis- 
sertation showing  independent  and  original  work  is  required. 

Ph.D.  Course.  —  This  course  will  be,  in  some  measure, 
adapted  to  the  needs  of  the  students  desiring  to  pursue  it. 
Its  purposes  will  be  to  cultivate  more  fully  the  love  of  let- 
ters, to  encourage  independent  and  scholarly  research,  and  to 
further  the  art  of  literary  expression.  It  will  include  the 
study  of  some  writer,  or  school  of  writers,  or  of  some  period 
or  movement  of  literature,  and  will  take  into  consideration 
the  political,  social,  and  literary  characteristics  of  the  time 
under  discussion. 


70  THE  TEACHING  OP  ENGLISH. 

In  conclusion  it  may  be  said  that  the  relations  existing 
here  between  students  and  professors  is  so  cordial  and  frank 
that  there  is  no  lack  of  opportunity  for  personal  contact  and 
conference.  This  enables  the  professor  of  rhetoric  to  supple- 
ment the  written  correction  of  essays  and  the  general  remarks 
before  the  class  by  private  conversation  and  individual  ad- 
vice. On  the  other  hand,  some  of  the  best  of  these  essays 
are  published  in  the  University  of  Virginia  Magazine.  This 
students'  publication  and  their  weekly,  College  Topics,  are  ap- 
preciated adjuncts  to  the  work  in  composition  ;  w^hile  the 
debating  societies,  in  lieu  of  systematic  training  in  oratory, 
give  abundant  opportunity  for  practice  in  speaking. 

The  foundation  for  the  library  (now  about  52,000  volumes) 
was  judiciously  laid  by  the  purchase  of  works  of  permanent 
and  substantial  value,  and  the  wisdom  which  characterized 
the  selection  made  by  the  first  professors  has  in  the  main 
been  exhibited  by  later  library  committees.  The  library  is 
stronger  in  English  literature  prior  to  the  nineteenth  century 
than  it  is  in  the  products  of  this  century  or  of  our  own  coun- 
try, but  the  deficiencies  are  fully  recognized,  and  the  want  is 
being  supplied  as  fast  as  limited  means  allow. 


ENGLISH  AT  THE  UNIVEESITY  OF  ILLINOIS. 

PROFESSOR   DANIEL   KILHAM    DODGE. 

The  course  in  English  at  the  Illinois  State  U-niversity  be- 
ing at  present  confined  to  the  undergraduate  classes,  an  ac- 
count of  the  work  must  differ  materially  from  one  dealing 
with  the  full  university  curriculum.  The  aim  of  such  a 
course  is,  or  should  be,  the  development  of  general  culture 
rather  than  the  preparation  for  later  scientific  research.  It 
aims  to  be,  as  far  as  possible,  complete  in  itself. 

Keeping  this  end  in  view,  we  devote  the  whole  of  the  first 
year  to  a  general  survey  of  English  and  American  literature, 
dwelling  particularly  on  the  great  names  and  the  significant 
periods.  From  this  as  a  centre  all  the  subsequent  courses  are 
made  to  radiate.  Those  students,  furthermore,  who  wish  to 
devote  only  a  single  year  to  the  subject,  are  thus  given  a 
bird's-eye  view,  which,  while  necessarily  incomplete  and  su- 
perficial, is  the  best  substitute  for  an  extended  course.  In 
connection  with  this  subject,  as  with  all  others,  much  outside 
reading  is  required. 

In  the  three  succeeding  years  the  time  is  divided  as 
equally  as  possible  between  twQ  subjects,  so  that  the  students 
may  have  variety  without  distraction.  In  the  Junior  and 
Senior  years  the  line  is  drawn  between  language  and  litera- 
ture, and  any  one  so  desiring  may  elect  only  one  of  these. 
As  might  be  expected,  the  preference  in  the  large  majority  of 
cases  is  given  to  the  latter  subject.  This  comparative  unpop- 
ularity of  language-study  suggests  the  advisability  of  provid- 
ing a  special  course  of  one  or  two  terms  in  elementary  Old 

71 


72  THE  TEACHING  OF  ENGLISH. 

English  (Anglo-Saxon)  grammar  and  prose  for  literary  stu- 
dents. This  is  the  more  desirable  as  the  earliest  period  of 
our  literature  cannot  satisfactorily  be  included  in  the  general 
survey,  and  yet  some  knowledge  of  it  is  essential  to  a  compre- 
hensive knowledge  of  our  literary  development.  It  is  also  a 
serious  question  whether  Chaucer  should  be  studied  in  the 
language  course,  as  at  present.  But,  in  any  case,  stress  should 
be  laid,  in  an  ordinary  college  course  such  as  ours,  upon  his 
artistic  and  ethical  qualities,  rather  than  upon  the  language 
in  which  these  find  expression. 

But  of  far  greater  importance  is  the  question  of  how  to 
approach  Shakespeare.  It  is  bad  enough  to  confine  ourselves 
to  the  grammatical  forms  of  Chaucer  ;  it  is  little  far  from 
criminal  to  do  so  with  our  mighty  dramatist.  Not  that  the 
grammatical  and  linguistic  side  shall  be  ignored;  it  must, 
however,  be  reduced  to  a  minimum,  as  a  means  to  a  greater 
end.  Richard  Grant  White  to  the  contrary,  Shakespeare  re- 
quires much  annotation  of  various  kinds,  in  order  that  the 
study  may  yield  its  full  return.  Our  Shakespeare  class  de- 
votes two  hours  a  week  throughout  the  year  to  the  detailed 
investigation  of  four  plays  —  a  comedy,  an  historical  play,  a 
tragedy,  and  one  of  the  so-called  romances.  One  hour  a  week 
during  the  first  term  is  devoted  to  the  pre-Shakespearian 
drama,  and  the  same  time  during  the  last  two  terms  to  the 
reading  of  eight  or  ten  of  Shakespeare's  plays  in  the  order 
of  FurnivaH's  chronological  table,  bearing  chiefly  in  mind 
the  development  of  the  author's  genius.  In  these  Hamlet  is 
invariably  included.  Free  discussion  by  the  members  of 
the  class  is  heartily  encouraged.  Special  stress  is  laid  upon 
the  different  conceptions  of  characters  and  situations  by 
leading  actors,  and  upon  the  stage  requirements  of  the  plays, 
—  the  student  being  never  allowed  to  forget  that  Shake- 
speare wrote  primarily  for  the  stage  and  not  for  the  closet. 
Textual  criticism  is  treated  even  more  sparingly  than  gram- 


\-  1SITT 

ENGLISH   AT   THE   UNIVERSITY   OF   II^jINOIS.  73 

matical  study,  its  proper  place  being  in  the  advanced  courses. 
The  results  of  this  method  of  Shakespeare  study  have  been 
very  encouraging,  many  of  the  pupils  seeming  to  develop  from 
it  a  real  love  for  the  subject,  which  it  is  to  be  hoped  may  be 
carried  still  further  outside  of  the  college  walls. 

The  other  courses  offered  are  the  prose  of  the  nineteenth 
century,  the  poetry  of  the  nineteenth  century,  —  special  stress 
being  laid  in  the  former  on  the  novel,  in  the  latter  on  Words- 
worth, Browning,  and  Tennyson,  —  eighteenth  century  litera- 
ture, the  literary  study  of  history,  and  Old  and  Early  English, 
including  Chaucer.  There  is  also  a  special  course  of  one 
year  for  scientific  and  engineering  students,  consisting  of  a 
general  survey  of  the  literature,  English  grammar,  and  the 
critical  study  of  scientific  prose. 

In  addition  to  the  instruction  in  language  and  literature, 
which  is  elective,  a  certain  amount  of  work  is  required  in 
rhetoric  and  theme-writing  of  all  members  of  the  university, 
the  object  of  which  is  the  practical  one  of  endeavoring  to  give 
training  in  the  use  of  English.  Much  freedom  is  left  to  the 
students  in  the  choice  of  subjects,  and  satisfactory  articles  in 
the  college  paper  and  the  various  college  societies  are  accepted 
as  equivalents  for  the  regular  class  themes.  This  latter  plan 
has  yielded  admirable  results  this  year,  the  first  of  its  trial. 

It  may  be  added  that  while,  as  has  been  stated,  no  attempt 
has  yet  been  made  to  offer  systematic  instruction  in  English 
for  graduates,  provision  is  made  for  all  those  desiring  to  pur- 
sue higher  studies  in  this  subject.  The  time  is  not  far  dis- 
tant, it  is  hoped,  when  this  deficiency  will  be  remedied. 


ENGLISH  AT  LAFAYETTE  COLLEGE. 

PROFESSOR  F.    A.    MARCH. 

It  is  thought  to  be  somewhat  of  a  specialty  in  the 
Lafayette  teaching  of  the  English,  that  the  professors  in  all 
departments  take  part  in  it.  The  theory  is  that  the  main 
cause  of  mistakes  in  speaking  and  writing  English  is  ignorance 
of  the  meaning  of  words.  Our  grammar  is  simple,  but  we 
catch  up  our  words  without  thought,  and  utter  them  again  in 
the  same  way.  On  the  athletic  field  we  do  not  know  walking 
from  running,  nor  at  the  banquet  pie  from  pudding.  When 
we  undertake  to  talk  about  any  scientific  subject,  the  expert 
detects  us  instantly ;  we  call  whales  fishes,  mix  up  sewage  and 
sewerage,  and  use  force,  energy,  and  power  as  if  they  were  all 
the  same. 

An  earnest  attempt  is  made  at  Lafayette  to  train  the 
students  in  each  department  to  write  on  subjects  connected 
with  it  in  the  words  and  phrases  current  among  experts.  The 
professors  in  each  department  are,  of  course,  authorities. 
Every  student  is  required  to  hand  in  two  papers  a  term ;  there 
are  three  terms  in  the  college  year.  The  professors  give  out 
subjects  which  demand  research  and  description  in  their  own 
departments,  and  much  time  is  spent  by  many  of  them  in 
inculcating  not  only  clear-cut  meaning,  but  also  the  etymology 
of  scientific  terms.  They  find  the  sesquipedalia  of  the  sci- 
ences cannot  be  held  in  memory  with  precision  unless  their 
elements  are  distinctly  perceived.  This  leads  to  some  knowl- 
edge of  scientific  philology,  and  of  accurate  spelling.  The 
students  in  the  chemical  laboratory  under  Professor  Hart,  the 

74 


ENGLISH  AT  LAFAYETTE  COLLEGE.  75 

president  of  the  Chemical  Section  of  the  American  Associa- 
tion for  the  Advancement  of  Sciences,  use  the  rules  of  the 
Association  for  spelling  and  pronunciation ;  they  know  when 
to  write  the  termination  -in,  and  when  to  write  -ine  ;  they  are 
not  to  be  caught  blundering  with  chlorin  or  quinin,  hydrid  or 
oxidy  or  sulfur.  The  amended  spellings  recommended  by  the 
joint  action  of  the  English  and  American  Philological  Societies 
and  given  in  the  Century  Dictionary  are  accepted  as  correct 
in  college  papers,  as  well  as  the  common  spellings  in  Webster 
and  Worcester. 

This  special  training  in  the  use  of  words  is  but  a  single 
item  in  the  regular  work  of  learning  to  read  and  write  the 
English  language  correctly  which  is  carried  on  at  Lafayette  as 
at  other  colleges.  The  professors  of  foreign  languages  recog- 
nize that  translation  into  English  is  training  in  English,  and 
written  translations  are  required  avowedly  in  the  interest  of 
English.  There  are  special  studies  of  rhetoric  in  text-books 
and  by  lectures,  and  all  the  staple  of  rhetorical  and  elocution- 
ary practice.  Trench  on  The  Study  of  JVords  is  a  required 
study  in  all  departments  two  hours  a  week  during  the  first 
term  of  Sophomore  year.  It  is  much  relished  by  students  of 
all  kinds,  and  an  appetizer  for  solid  courses  of  scientific 
philology.  The  class  of  1883  established  a  prize  for  the  best 
examination  in  it. 

Over  and  above  all  this  is  the  study  of  English  in  litera- 
ture. We  find  the  statement  in  the  histories  of  Lafayette 
that  the  college  had  ^^  European  recognition  "  for  its  study  of 
English  before  the  present  historical  and  literary  courses  were 
known  at  other  colleges.  The  Lafayette  courses  were  estab- 
lished with  the  maxim  that  "  English  should  be  studied  like 
Greek."  A  special  professorship  was  established  co-ordinate 
with  the  Greek  and  Latin  professorships,  with  the  arrange- 
ment emphasized  that  the  professor  was  not  to  have  the  rhet- 
oric, and  general  theme-writing,  and  other  like  duties,  but  was 


76  THE  TEACHING   OF  ENGLISH. 

to  handle  English  classic  authors  with  his  classes,  study  Chau- 
cer, Shakespeare,  and  Webster,  after  the  same  methods  as 
Homer  and  Demosthenes.  This  was  a  pretty  precise  descrip- 
tion fifty  years  ago.  Now  there  are  many  ways  of  studying 
Greek,  and  all  of  them  often  scamped  in  our  universities.  It 
meant  then  thorough  work.  Teachers  were  fond  of  repeating 
after  Dr.  Arnold  of  Rugby,  "What  a  treat  it  would  be  to 
teach  Shakespeare  to  a  good  class  of  young  Greeks  in  regener- 
ate Athens  ;  to  dwell  upon  him  line  by  line  and  word  by  word, 
and  so  to  get  all  his  pictures  and  thoughts  leisurely  into  one's 
mind,  till  I  verily  think  one  would,  after  a  time,  almost  give 
out  light  in  the  dark,  after  having  been  steeped,  as  it  were,  in 
such  an  atmosphere  of  brilliance." 

The  Lafayette  courses  are  still  constant  to  this  central 
idea.  They  are  primarily  devoted  to  the  study  of  the  language 
as  it  is  found  in  masterpieces  of  literature,  the  immediate  aim 
being  the  interpretation  of  these  masterpieces,  the  rethinking 
of  the  thoughts  of  master  minds,  and  storing  the  memory 
with  their  words.  Four  hours  a  week  during  two  terms. 
Junior  year,  are  spent  with  a  professor  in  recitations ;  two  ad- 
ditional hours  are  allotted  to  the  preparation  for  each  recita- 
tion. Three  of  the  recitation  hours  each  week  are  occupied 
in  the  Arnold  fashion,  dwelling  line  by  line  and  word  by  word 
upon  worthy  passages.  In  a  play  of  Shakespeare,  for  example, 
—  and  one  term  is  regularly  devoted  to  a  play  of  Shake- 
speare, —  a  scene,  a  short  scene,  may  be  given  out  for  a  morn- 
ing's study.  A  considerable  part  of  it  will  be  read  rapidl}^, 
or  the  gist  of  it  given  in  a  few  words,  and  most  of  the  hour 
will  be  devoted  to  a  few  lines  selected  as  worthy  of  thorough 
study.  Any  obsolete  words  or  phrases,  or  singular  construc- 
tions, will  be  explained  j  but  the  secret  of  Shakespeare's 
power  is  not  to  be  found  in  these.  The  words  which  are 
bearers  of  special  meaning  or  feeling  are  usually  familiar 
words.      In  searching  for  their  power  and  charm,  the  stu- 


ENGLISH   AT   LAFAYETTE  COLLEGE.  77 

dent  will  trace  them  through  all  the  places  where  Shake- 
speare uses  them,  using  the  Concordance  to  bring  them  all 
together.  He  will  use  the  historical  dictionary  to  learn  what 
associations  had  gathered  around  them  in  the  earlier  ages,  be- 
ginning sometimes  in  Beowulf,  and  accumulating  as  they  pass 
to  Alfred,  to  Chaucer,  to  Tyndale,  to  Spenser,  and  are  used  by 
each  with  some  happy  turn  or  in  some  musical  rhythm.  He 
will  often  find  that  the  peculiar  meaning  in  Shakespeare  be- 
gins with  him,  and  then  it  will  be  pleasant  to  trace  it  in  later 
authors,  repeated  in  quotation  or  allusion  until  it  becomes  per- 
haps the  most  familiar  meaning.  All  the  resources  of  phi- 
lology, the  comparative  study  of  languages  and  literatures, 
rhetoric  and  oratory,  prosody  and  rhythmic  art,  psychology, 
and  biography,  may  be  drawn  upon,  and  all  available  peda- 
gogical arts  used  to  lead  the  student  livelily  to  rethink  the 
thought  and  perceive  and  feel  and  remember  the  beauty  of  the 
language.  In  this  way  students  come  to  rejoice  in  these 
noble  passages,  and  remember  them  forever.  They  are  thus 
provided  with  the  very  words  to  guide  their  higher  thought, 
and  with  forms  of  graceful  speech  which  prompt  them  to 
easy  utterances  of  courtesy  and  affection  and  devotion. 

Three  of  the  four  hours  a  week  with  the  professor  are 
used  in  this  way ;  the  fourth  is  given  to  a  kind  of  symposium 
or  seminary.  Some  topic  of  research  belonging  to  the  subject 
is  given  out  for  an  essay,  which  all  the  class  are  required  to 
hand  in.  The  hour  is  spent  in  the  reading  of  essays  and  criti- 
cism of  them,  and  further  discussion  of  the  topic  carried  on  by 
the  class  under  the  prompting  and  guidance  of  the  professor. 
One  such  hour  may  be  given  to  the  life  and  environment  of 
the  author ;  another  to  the  plot  of  the  play,  if  one  of  Shake- 
speare's plays  is  to  be  studied ;  others  to  critical  discussion  of 
particular  scenes  as  wholes  and  as  proper  parts  of  the  play ; 
others  to  notable  characters  in  the  play.  There  may  be  phi- 
lological papers  on  the  language  of  the  play  and  of  the  poet ; 


78  THE  TEACHING   OF  ENGLISH. 

papers  on  the  originality  of  the  work,  how  much  of  it  is 
Shakespeare;  reports  of  the  criticism  of  particular  great 
critics  ;  outlines  of  other  related  works. 

The  most  stimulating  and  fertile  topics  are  simple.  The 
spelling  of  Shakespeare's  name  is  a  good  subject  for  begin- 
ners ;  it  opens  into  a  good  many  interesting  and  useful  facts, 
and  thoughts  about  the  nature  of  evidence,  the  history  and 
rules  of  naming,  the  literary  orthography  of  proper  names, 
and  the  like.  Another  good  introduction  to  research  of  this 
sort  is  an  etymological  examination  of  the  language  of  an 
author,  to  ascertain  what  percentages  of  his  words  are  derived 
from  Anglo-Saxon,  what  from  Latin,  Greek,  and  other 
languages,  and  to  discuss  the  reason  for  them.  This  includes 
the  preparation  of  statistical  tables  of  the  numbers  of  words 
in  selected  passages  of  the  author,  and  also  in  certain  other 
authors  of  different  dates  and  kinds  with  whom  comparison  is 
to  be  made.  General  reading  is  necessary  to  select  the  pas- 
sages. Every  word  in  them  must  be  looked  up  in  the 
dictionary  unless  its  etymology  is  known  before.  This  is 
work.  In  order  to  explain  the  different  percentages  in  differ- 
ent passages  of  the  author,  it  is  necessary  to  consider  what 
subjects  and  styles  favor  the  use  of  Anglo-Saxon  words,  what 
of  Latin,  or  Greek.  In  comparing  him  with  other  writers  of 
his  own  age  and  country,  his  immediate  environment,  his 
friends,  his  audience,  his  biography,  must  be  known.  In 
comparing  him  with  similar  writers  of  other  periods,  the 
habits  of  different  ages,  and  their  varying  linguistic  condi- 
tions, must  be  examined.  A  proper  method 'of  preparing  such 
an  essay  having  been  given  the  student,  he  will  be  able  to 
do,  and  will  be  led  on  to  do,  much  good  work  of  his  own  in 
applying  the  method  to  any  particular  author. 

We  used  to  have  lively  work  of  research,  frequent  peering 
into  all  corners  of  the  library,  and  rejoicing  in  exploiting 
fresh  mines  of  facts ;  but  bibliographic  indexing  is  now  so 


ENGLISH   AT  LAFAYETTE   COLLEGE.  79 

copious,  —  Poole's  Indexes  in  the  van,  —  and  the  librarians 
are  so  at  the  service  of  everybody,  and  omniscient,  that  re- 
search begins  and  ends  too  often  with  asking  the  librarian  to 
hand  over  everything  there  is  on  the  topic,  and  point  out  the 
pages.  And  the  essays  are  apt  to  show  plainly  enough  that 
they  were  written  with  the  books  open  before  the  writers, 
as  Shakespeare  had  North's  Plutarch  when  he  wrote  Julius 
Ccesar.  The  essays  can  hardly  claim  the  credit  of  research,  but 
often  have  merits  which  students  rank  higher  than  research, 
and  make  good  material  for  collisions  of  memory  and  wit 
combats  at  the  symposia. 

All  this  is  required  work.  For  Shakespeare  there  is  also 
a  prize  examination  open  to  all  who  have  finished  the  required 
work.  This  is  general,  covering  his  life,  character,  all  his 
works,  from  any  points  of  view  which  the  examiner  may 
choose  at  the  examination.  The  professor  is  content  with 
questions  which  call  for  direct  knowledge  of  the  works  and 
reflection  upon  them ;  such  as  naming  plays  and  asking 
for  a  description  of  them,  and  asking  which  is  the  best  and 
why ;  when  they  were  written  and  the  evidence  for  the  dates  ; 
naming  persons  and  asking  for  their  characters  and  action  ; 
giving  quotations  and  asking  where  they  are  found,  and  the 
like  simplicities  ;  but  examining  committees  are  apt  to  confront 
the  student  with  the  profoundest  questions  in  psychology  and 
history  which  the  Germans  have  evolved.  The  winning  of 
this  prize  is  esteemed  one  of  the  highest  college  honors. 

There  are  two  divisions  of  the  students  who  do  not  take 
courses  in  Greek  and  Latin.  These  take  courses  of  English, 
German,  and  French,  which  are  so  taught  as  to  supply  simi- 
lar linguistic  training  to  that  obtained  from  the  Latin  and 
Greek.  They  study  term  by  term  some  English  classic  just 
as  the  others  do  their  Latin  classic,  giving  it  four  recitation 
hours  a  week.  Authors  commonly  selected  are  Bunyan, 
Spenser,  Chaucer,  Bacon.    With  a  general  method  such  as  has 


80  THE   TEACHING   OF   ENGLISH. 

been  spoken  of  in  connection  with  Shakespeare,  philological 
topics  are  taken  up  in  progressive  order,  term  after  term,  such 
as  to  prepare  these  students  to  unite  with  students  of  Latin 
and  Greek  in  the  second  term  of  the  Junior  year,  and  go  on 
with  the  philological  study  of  English.  Four  lessons  a  week 
in  Anglo-Saxon  for  two  terms  are  required  of  all  students  ex- 
cept technicals.  They  are  given  near  the  end  of  the  linguistic 
courses  required  in  college  when  the  students  have  studied 
their  German,  French,  Latin,  Greek,  nearly  to  their  comple- 
tion. The  West  Saxon  as  it  appears  in  the  principal  literary 
works  is  presented  as  a  classical  language,  and  the  whole 
time  is  devoted  to  it  as  to  a  sister  speech  of  classical  Latin. 
It  is  studied,  we  say,  like  Greek.  The  class  begin  to  read  at 
once  extracts  from  the  Gospels.  They  also  learn  the  gram- 
mar, the  rules  for  pronunciation,  and  practise  reading  the  text 
aloud.  They  learn  the  paradigms,  and  rules  of  syntax,  so  as 
to  parse  rapidly,  declining  and  inflecting  freely.  They  learn 
the  rules  of  letter  change,  a  selected  set  of  them.  They 
already  know  from  their  other  language  studies  Grimm's  law 
and  the  like.  They  learn  for  continual  use  the  paradigms 
and  syntax,  and  the  common  phonetic  changes  within  the 
West  Saxon,  and  from  West  Saxon  to  English.  The  exami- 
nation at  the  end  of  the  first  term  of  Anglo-Saxon  is  almost 
wholly  devoted  to  these  matters,  and  it  is  known  from  the 
first  that  they  must  be  learned  in  order  to  pass  without 
conditions. 

In  the  second  term  Anglo-Saxon  prosody  is  added  to  the 
grammar  work,  but  the  time  is  given  mainly  to  reading  Anglo- 
Saxon  authors  as  we  read  modern  English  authors  in  this 
course,  and  to  throwing  light  upon  modern  English  words 
and  idioms  by  connecting  them  with  their  ancient  forms.  Be- 
sides the  class  examinations,  a  prize  is  offered  to  those  who 
complete  the  courses  for  the  best  general  examination  in  Eng- 
lish before   Chaucer;   and  an  additional  optional  course  is 


ENGLISH   AT   LAFAYETTE   COLLEGE.  81 

given  to  prepare  for  examination  questions  upon  the  deduction 
of  the  Anglo-Saxon  forms  from  originals  in  the  parent 
speech  and  other  comparative  grammar,  and  for  additional 
reading,  and  literary  and  biographic  and  bibliographic  study 
in  connection  with  it. 

The  chief  use  of  study  of  English  before  Chaucer  to  the 
American  college  graduate,  the  person  who  used  to  be  known 
as  the  gentleman  and  scholar,  is  to  help  him  to  better  under- 
standing and  mastery  of  English  in  Chaucer,  and  since 
Chaucer.  The  literary  charm  and  power  of  the  works  which 
have  survived  from  the  earlier  period  is  slight  in  compari- 
son with  that  of  the  old  masters  of  Greece  and  Rome,  and  of 
the  still  greater  modern  authors  in  our  own  language  and 
other  modern  languages,  who  mould  the  thoughts  of  modern 
men.  It  would  seem  best,  therefore,  to  devote  that  moderate 
portion  of  time  which  ought  to  be  given  to  this  study  in  col- 
lege to  a  few  typical  specimens  of  Anglo-Saxon,  and  to 
the  comparative  study  of  their  idioms  in  relation  to  modern 
English,  so  as  to  fix  in  memory  illustrative  originals  to  guide 
and  strengthen  our  speech.  Ko  one  but  an  incipient  professor 
of  languages  can  well  afford  to  spend  his  days  and  nights  for 
long  periods  of  his  crowded  college  life  in  studying  books  of 
specimens  of  all  the  various  early  dialects  of  those  groping 
centuries. 

This  series  of  required  studies  for  the  whole  class  is  con- 
tinued during  the  second  term  of  Senior  year  by  two  exercises 
a  week,  with  weekly  written  papers  from  each  student 
arranged  for  the  general  study  of  some  author,  and  the  writ- 
ing of  an  elaborate  article,  as  if  for  a  quarterly  review,  which 
must  contain  a  discussion  of  the  language  of  the  author. 
With  the  work  of  this  term  goes  another  prize.  The  best 
work  is  done  when  the  author  selected  is  an  American. 
Students  find  their  own  life  and  thought  depicted  in  the 
American  authors.      The  language  is  their  own.      They  are 


82  THE   TEACHING   OF   ENGLISH. 

specially  arawn  to  them.  In  the  college  reading-room  the 
American  periodicals  are  worn  to  tatters,  while  the  English 
publications,  which  were  the  main  reading  of  students  of 
the  last  generation,  lie  in  fair  covers,  looking  fresh  from  the 
binder.  Franklin,  Bryant,  Irving,  Webster,  Emerson,  Long- 
fellow, Lowell,  Mrs.  Stowe,  Whittier,  Holmes,  have  been 
handled  with  most  hearty  and  sympathetic  admiration  and 
intelligence.  One  of  the  traditional  high-days  of  Lafayette 
is  that  on  which  Mr.  Bryant  made  the  public  presentation 
of  this  prize  for  the  best  study  of  his  own  works  to  Mr.  J. 
W.  Bright,  of  '77,  now  professor  of  English  philology  in 
Johns  Hopkins  University,  his  torch  still  burning  as  he  runs 
in  the  front. 

During  the  same  term  a  rapid  general  survey  of  Eng- 
lish literature  is  given  with  a  compendium,  class  discussion, 
and  conversations,  two  hours  a  week.  And  four  hours  a  week 
of  the  last  term  of  the  Senior  year  are  given  to  a  review  and 
summary  of  the  linguistic  side  of  the  college  studies  in  con- 
nection with  Professor  Whitney's  Language  and  the  Study  of 
Language,  a  required  study. 

Lafayette  is  a  college  of  some  three  hundred  students,  and 
does  not  advertise  university  courses.  It  receives,  however, 
.graduate  students,  and  there  are  always  some  such  pursuing 
English  studies.  A  few  continue  them,  as  major  courses,  far 
enough  to  earn  a  Ph.D.  It  might  be  said,  therefore,  that  we 
/  '  have  all  the  courses  in  English,  the  description  of  which  fills 
so  many  pages  of  the  great  university  catalogues.  There  are 
two  professors  :  F.  A.  March,  professor  of  English  and 
of  comparative  philology ;  and  F.  A.  March,  Jr.,  professor  of 
English  literature. 


ENGLISH  AT  THE  UNIVEESITY  OF  IOWA. 

PROFESSOR  EDWARD   E.    HALE,    JR.^ 

The  State  University  of  Iowa  has  one  professor  of  English 
and  one  instructor,  and  offers  during  the  present  year  eight 
courses.  All  but  one  of  these  are  two-hour  courses,  making  a 
total  of  seventeen  hours,  the  actual  teaching  time  being  some- 
what more,  owing  to  division  in  classes.  Of  these  eight 
courses,  four  are  required.  In  the  Freshman  year  a  choice  is 
given  between  courses  I.  and  II. ;  in  the  Sophomore  year,  be- 
tween III.  and  IV.  There  are  about  two  hundred  and  fifty 
students  registered  in  the  various  courses,  counting  perhaps 
twenty  names  twice.  Besides  these  courses,  the  University 
offers  two  courses  in  elocution  and  a  good  deal  of  private 
work  under  a  special  instructor,  and  for  next  year  it  offers 
a  course  in  debating  under  the  joint  supervision  of  the  pro- 
fessors of  political  science,  philosophy,  and  English.  But 
these  latter  matters  hardly  come  within  the  scope  of  the  pre- 
sent series  of  articles. 

In  the  required  work  of  the  English  Department,  there  are 
two  lines  offered  to  the  student.  Courses  I.  and  III.  are 
strictly  rhetorical  in  character,  being  the  only  courses  in 
rhetoric  that  we  give.  In  these  courses  our  idea  is  not  ex- 
actly to  teach  formal  rhetoric  as  the  'art  is  usually  presented 
in  the  older  text-books,  but  rather  to  present  the  subject  in  a 
constructive  way,  according  to  the  general  line  of  recent 
thought  on  the  subject.     We  try  to  habituate  the  student  to 

1  Now  Professor  of  Rhetoric  in  Union  College. 
83 


84  THE  TEACHING  OF  ENGLISH. 

writing  (as  well  as  possible,  of  course,  but  criticism  is  not  our 
first  aim),to  give  him  practice  in  thinking  over  his  material 
and  putting  it  into  good  form,  to  give  him  exercise  in  the  dif- 
ferent modes  of  presentation.  Such  is  the  tendency  of  most 
of  the  handbooks  on  rhetoric,  and  of  most  of  the  discussions 
of  the  matter  published  in  the  last  few  years. 

The  alternative  courses  offered  the  Freshmen  and  Sopho- 
mores are  literary  with  a  rhetorical  flavor.  In  the  first  year 
a  number  of  prose  authors  are  read,  with  comment  on  their 
style.  In  the  second,  the  class  uses  Professor  Minto's  admi- 
rable Manual.  It  seems  that  there  are  always  a  number  of 
students  who  make  very  little  of  rhetoric  as  usually  taught ; 
we  want,  in  these  courses,  to  see  whether  they  can  do  as  well 
by  reading  good  authors  as  their  classmates  do  by  more  direct 
practice  in  means  and  methods.  In  all  four  courses  there  is  a 
good  deal  of  essay  writing.  But,  as  far  as  we  can  see  at 
present,  the  direct  work  will  give  the  better  results.^ 

In  the  elective  courses,  we  draw  the  line  sharply  between 
linguistic  work  and  literary.  If  it  were  practicable,  I  should 
like  to  divide  further,  giving  courses  devoted  particularly  to 
literary  history  and  to  the  interpretation  of  literature.  As  it 
is,  however,  these  last  subjects  are  treated  in  the  same  courses. 
In  linguistics  we  give  this  year  a  course  in  Old  English  and 
another  on  historical  English  grammar.  But  these  courses 
(and  a  course  in  Middle  English,  as  Avell,  that  has  been  given) 
are  not  favorites  with  the  student  body,  and  are  only  given 
in  alternate  years. 

For  courses  in  literature,  besides  the  Freshman  course  (II.) 
described  above,  and  the  course  in  English  prose  (IV.)  there  is 
given  this  year  a  course  of  lectures  on  English  poetry.  The 
subject  of  this  course  is  changed  each  year,  so  that  the  student 
who  wishes  may  in  tfiree  years  get  a  fairly  complete  view  of 

1  Our  recent  experience  leads  us  to  drop  these  courses  as  required  work, 
loavin<;  only  the  two  courees  in  rhetoric.  Course  IV.  will  be  retained  as  an 
elective. 


EKGLISH   AT   THE   UNIVERSITY   OF   IOWA.  85 

English  poetry  from  Chaucer  down,  including  a  good  deal  of 
work  on  Shakespeare. 

A  seminary,  in  the  stricter  American  sense  of  a  research 
course,  we  do  not  have.  We  do,  however,  give  a  course  for 
seniors  and  graduates,  which  bears  a  fairly  close  resemblance 
in  character  to  the  seminary  of  a  smaller  German  university. 
The  work  of  this  course  is  generally  concerned  with  some  as- 
pects of  criticism,  and  we  follow  sometimes  one  method,  some- 
times another. .  I  have  gone  over  a  text-book,  or  lectured,  or 
given  out  topics  for  original  work.  The  main  idea  is  that  by 
means  of  the  closer  personal  relation  possible  through  the 
informalities  of  the  seminary,  the  spirit  of  self-reliance  and 
independence  shall  be  developed  in  the  members. 

It  will  easily  be  seen  from  this  sketch  of  our  work  that  the 
basis  of  our  method  is  the  cutting  our  coat  somewhat  accord- 
ing to  our  cloth.  We  have  a  good  many  students,  and  there 
are  certain  things  that  must  be  done  :  beyond  is  the  great 
number  of  things  that  may  be  done.  We  try  to  compass  the 
necessities  first,  and  of  the  possibilities  we  grasp  at  as  many 
as  circumstances  will  permit.  We  have  two  main  ideas  :  first, 
to  give  plenty  of  opportunity  to  those  who  wish  to  gain  a  good 
English  style ;  and  second,  to  encourage  a  feeling  and  taste 
for  good  literature.  It  is  a  pity  that  we  cannot  develop  fur- 
ther than  we  do  the  more  scientific  aspects  of  linguistic  study 
and  of  criticism  and  literary  history.  But  these  are  matters 
which  for  the  present  we  have  to  leave  almost  untouched. 


ENGLISH  AT   THE   UNIVEESITY   OF   CHICAGO. 

PROFESSOR  ALBERT  H.  TOLMAN. 

All  persons  who  believe  that  literature  is  at  once  the 
greatest  of  the  fine  arts  and  the  one  most  available  for  general 
study  must  be  interested  in  the  reports  that  The  Dial  has 
published  concerning  the  work  in  English  at  various  American 
colleges  and  universities. 

The  English  department  is  the  largest  one  in  the  Univer- 
sity of  Chicago,  and  very  generous  provision  has  been  made 
for  it.  During  the  three  calendar  quarters  from  October  1, 
1893,  to  June  30,  1894,  twelve  instructors  have  given  forijjj^- 
eight  courses  of  instruction  in  English.  Three  of  these  have 
been  in  required  theme-writing;  the  remaining  forty-five 
courses  have  each  called  for  four  or  five  hours  of  class-room 
work  a  week  for  twelve  weeks,  except  that  a  few  Seminar 
classes  have  met  only  two  hours  a  week.  During  this  time, 
849  students,  counting  by  class  registration,  have  taken  regu- 
lar courses  in  English;  and  204  more  have  taken  required 
theme-writing.  The  number,  of  different  persons  taking  these 
courses  has  been  425,  not  including  any  who  take  only  re- 
quired theme-writing.  In  this  number  are  included  51  gradu- 
ates of  colleges.  Tlie  amount  of  graduate  work  in  the  English 
department  is  continually  increasing. 

The  following  persons  will  give  instruction  in  English  at 
this  University  during  the  year  extending  from  July  1,  1894, 
to  June  30,  1895 :  Professor  W.  C.  Wilkinson,  D.D.  ;  Uni- 
versity Extension  Professor  R.  G.  Moulton,  Ph.D. ;  Professor 
L.  A.  Sherman,  Ph.D.,  of  the  University  of  Nebraska  (at  the 

86 


ENGLISH   AT   THE   UNIVERSITY   OF   CHICAGO.  87 

University  of  Chicago  only  for  the  summer  quarter  of  '94) ; 
University  Extension  Associate  Professor  N.  Butler,  A.M. ; 
Associate  Professor  W.  D.  McClintock,  A.M. ;  Assistant  Pro- 
fessor F.  A.  Blackburn,  Ph.D. ;  Assistant  Professor  M.  F. 
Crow,  Ph.D. ;  Assistant  Professor  A.  H.  Tolman,  Ph.D. ;  In- 
structor R.  W.  Herrick,  A.B. ;  Instructor  R.  M.  Lovett,  A.B. ; 
Tutor  E.  H.  Lewis,  Ph.D. ;  Assistant  Myra  Reynolds,  A.M. ; 
Docent  0.  L.  Triggs,  A.B.  ;  Honorary  Fellow  F.  I.  Carpenter, 
A.B. ;  Honorary  Fellow  H.  C.  Brainard,  Ph.B.  (Total  fifteen.) 
All  of  these,  except  Professor  Sherman,  Miss  Reynolds,  and 
Mrs.  Brainard,  have  been  teaching  here  during  the  past  year. 
Ten  of  those  in  the  above  list  will  give  their  entire  time  to 
the  work  of  instruction ;  five  only  a  part  of  their  time. 

One  course  in  English  literature,  and  only  one,  is  required 
of  all  the  students.  This  must  be  taken  during  the  first  year 
of  undergraduate  work.  It  seems  desirable  that  the  pupil  be 
ititroduced  promptly  to  i,h.e  treasures  of  his  own  literature ; 
it  is  well  that  he  should  learn  early  that  the  condensed  milk 
of  text-books  cannot'  suffice  for  his  mental  nutriment,  —  that 
all  the  fact-books  and  reasoning  books,  taken  together,  cannot 
accomplish  his  intellectual  salvation,  cannot  give  him  a  liberal 
education.  This  required  course  is  an  introduction  to  the 
study  of  literature.  It  gives  a  brief  outline  of  the  history  of 
English  literature,  together  with  studies  in  the  chief  literary 
forms  —  the  drama,  narrative  poetry,  lyric  poetry,  the  novel, 
the  essay.  It  may  seem  to  some  that  more  than  one  quarter 
should  be  given  to  this  work,  but  it  is  the  policy  of  the  Uni- 
versity to  have  as  few  required  courses  ,as  practicable.  Some 
election  is  allowed  during  the  second  year  of  college  work ; 
after  the  second  year  there  are  at  present  no  required  courses 
whatever. 

Of  the  elective  courses  in  English  literature,  each  calls  for 
four  or  five  hours  of  class-room  work  a  week  for  an  entire 
quarter ;  except  that  some  of  the  Seminaji..Xih,ss^Ji  _i3?e€t  only 

/         ^^  OF  THE  -  ' 

("aNIVERSITT 


88  THE  TEACHING   OF  ENGLISH. 

two  hours  per  week.  Many  important  authors  and  subjects 
are  necessarily  omitted  from  the  work  of  any  single  year.  A 
condensed  list  of  these  elective  courses  for  the  coming  year 
is  as  follows :  Old  English  literature  (Blackburn) ;  Middle 
English  readings  (Blackburn) ;  the  works  of  Chaucer  (Tol- 
man) ;  the  rise  of  the  English  drama  and  its  history  to  1560 
(Tolman)  ;  the  history  of  the  drama  in  England  from  1560  to 
1642  (Crow) ;  Elizabethan  prose  (Crow) ;  Elizabethan  seminary 
(autumn,  winter,  and  spring  quarters,  Crow)  ;  the  sources 
of  Shakespeare's  plays  (Crow)  ;  Shakespeare  seminary,  —  those 
plays  in  the  First  Folio  which  have  been  thought  to  be  of  com- 
posite authorship,  etc.  (Tolman) ;  the  interpretation  of  repre- 
sentative plays  of  Shakespeare  (McClintock) ;  studies  in  the 
interpretation  of  Shakespeare  (Sherman) ;  critical  examina- 
tion of  the  text  of  Hamlet  (Brainard) ;  Elizabethan  poetry 
(Carpenter) ;  the  poetry  of  Spenser  (Carpenter)  ;  Spenser's 
Faerie  Queene  (Moulton)  ;  Milton  serjriinary  (McClintock)  ;  the 
beginnings  of  the  classical  movement  in  English  literature 
(Reynolds) ;  the  beginnings  of  the  romantic  movement  (Mc- 
Clintock) J  the  romantic  poets,  1780  to  1830  (McClintock) ; 
the  poetry  of  Wordsworth  (Reynolds) ;  essayists  of  the  nine- 
teenth century  (Butler) ;  nineteenth  century  literary  move- 
I  ments  (Triggs)  ;  Arnold  and  Tennyson  (Triggs)  ;  American 
literature  in  outline  (Triggs) ;  English  poetry  in  the  nine- 
teenth century  (Lovett)  ;  themes  and  principles  of  treatment 
in  novel,  poem,  and  drama  (Sherman)  ;  the  history  of  English 
literary  criticism  (summer  and  spring  quarters,  McClintock)  ; 
the  elements  of  literature  (summer  and  spring  quarters, 
McClintock) ;  theory  and  practice  of  literary  interpretation 
(Moulton). 

The  university  extension  work  in  English  literature  falls 
especially  to  Professors  Moulton  and  Butler.  Since  October 
1,  1893,  Associate  Professor  Butler  has  served  most  success- 
fully as  director  of  the   University  Extension  Department, 


ENGLISH   AT   THE  UNIVERSITY   OF   CHICAGO.  89 

and  has  given  sixty  extension  lectures.  Since  January  1, 
1894,  Professor  Moulton  has  conducted  two  courses  of  regular 
class  work  at  the  University,  and  has  delivered  ninety-six 
extension  lectures.  No  other  American  institution  does  so 
much  in  this  line  of  work  as  the  University  of  Chicago. 
Many  courses  of  lecture-studies  in  English  literature  are 
offered  for  the  coming  year.  It  is  not  the  policy  of  the  Uni- 
versity to  encourage  extension  lecturing  on  the  part  of  the 
regular  class-room  force,  though  such  courses  are  given  under 
special  circumstances. 

The  masterpieces  of  our  literature  are  studied  at  the  Uni- 
versity of  Chicago  primarily  as  works  of  literary  art.  If  one 
says  that  ^'English  should  be  studied  as  Greek  is,"  then  it  ^ 
must  be  asked.  How  should  Greek  be  studied  ?  To  inves- 
tigate every  possible  question  that  can  be  raised  in  connection 
with  a  piece  of  literature  is  to  be  thorough  indeed ;  but  is  it 
not  possible,  in  being  thorough,  to  be  thoroughly  wrong  ?  An 
artistic  whole,  like  a  vital  one,  is  something  indefinitely  greater 
than  the  sum  of  its  parts.  We  should  not  fail  in  artistic  | 
study  to  make  the  ivhole  the  centre  of  interest.  The  study  of  \  ,» 
the  most  charming  of  the  English  classics  has  too  often  been 
made  a  mere  starting-point  for  laborious  investigations  into  •t^^^.x 
antiquities,  history,  geography,  etymology,  phonetics,  the 
history  of  the  English  language,  and  general  linguistics.  The 
stones  of  learning  have  been  doled  out  to  students  hungry  for 
the  bread  of  literature.  Literary  masterpieces  should  be 
studied  chiefly,  it  seems  to  me,  for  their  beauty.  It  is  because 
of  their  charm,  their  beauty,  that  they  have  immortality ;  it 
is  only  because  of  this  that  we  study  them  at  all.  If  the  stu- 
dent is  not  helped  to  enter  into  their  beauty  and  to  love  them 
for  it,  the  teaching  would  seem  to  be  wrong  somewhere.  No 
study  can  be  too  minute  and  careful  which  aids  one  in  gaining 
a  vital  appreciation  of  a  great  masterpiece.  An  unfailing 
source  of  rest  and  refreshment,  a  life-long  process  of  self-edu- 


Y    f^Jr^/v'^-^^^ 


^t^iM  ^y^^  ^^^^  "^  ^    A^OMKA^i,  4MMi^^^ 
/    ^ggr    '  THE  TEACHING  OF  ENGLISH. 

cation,  great  ideals  of  life  and  character,  —  to  all  of  these  the 
student  should  gain  access  through  the  study  of  English 
literature. 

For  the  most  part  the  literary  and  linguistic  lines  of  study 
are  kept  apart  at  this  University  ;  but  not  entirely.  Linguis- 
tic questions  are  sometimes  vital  to  the  interpretation  of  a 
passage  ;  for  example,  the  word  "  weird  "  in  the  phrase  "  the 
weird  sisters"  in  Macbeth  calls  for  explanation,  and  will 
repay  the  most  careful  study.  Even  in  a  literary  study  of 
Chaucer  it  is  necessary  to  pay  careful  attention  to  his  lan- 
guage. I  must  not  be  understood  as  objecting  to  the  most 
thorough  study  of  the  English  language.  It  is  a  fair  question 
whether  a  certain  amount  of  such  study  should  not  be  required 
of  all  college  students.  According  to  a  great  law  of  educa- 
tion, "the  law  of  the  nearest,"  the  history  of  the  English 
tongue  is  the  most  fitting  and  helpful  introduction  to  the  gen- 
eral study  of  the  life  and  growth  of  language.  Only  in  the 
mother-tongue  does  the  student  have  access  to  the  actual  phe- 
nomena of  speech.  Here  one  boundary  of  linguistic  investi- 
gation —  the  terminus  ad  quern  —  is  the  present  form  of  the 
language  ;  and  this  meets  his  ear  at  every  turn.  The  present 
life  and  growth  of  one's  native  tongue  can  be  studied  at  first 
hand,  and  is  the  great  source  of  light  for  the  study  of  lan- 
guage-change in  the  past.  Few  recent  movements  in  education 
have  been  more  marked  than  the  increased  attention  given  to 
the  historical  study  of  English. 

In  addition  to  the  literary  courses  already  mentioned. 
Assistant  Professor  Blackburn  offers  nine  courses  in  Old  Eng- 
lish, the  history  of  the  English  language,  etc.,  for  the  year 
beginning  July  1,  1894. 

Every  student  is  required  to  take  a  course  in  rhetoric  and 
English  composition  at  the  beginning  of  his  undergraduate 
work.  Theme-writing  is  required  throughout  the  first  two 
yeaft.     The  instructors  in  rhetoric  expect  the  students  to  find 


II 


ENGLISH   AT  THE  UNIVERSITY   OP   CHICAGO.  91 

the  subjects  for  tlieir  themes,  or  compositions,  in  the  various 
other  departments  where  their  studies  lie.  The  principles 
and  rules  of  rhetoric,  they  hold,  help  a  man  to  treat  a  subject 
appropriately ;  but  he  must  find  some  subject  himself,  or  one 
must  be  found  for  him.  A  list  of  topics,  together  with  help- 
ful references,  is  furnished  to  the  classes.  These  topics  are 
recommended  by  the  instructors  in  the  various  departments 
in  which  the  students  are  working,  and  usually  have  some 
vital  connection  with  the  subjects  that  are  discussed  in  the 
class-room.  Fourteen  elective  courses  in  rhetorical  study  are 
offered  for  the  coming  year  by  Messrs.  Wilkinson,  Herrick, 
Lovett,  and  Lewis. 

Every  college  graduate  should  be  able  to  prove  that  he  is 
liberally  educated  by  the  grace  and  skill  with  which  he  ex- 
presses his  thoughts.  Much  practice  in  writing  is  required 
of  every  student  who  takes  his  college  course  in  the  Univer- 
sity of  Chicago.  The  University  of  Chicago  has  fifteen  de- 
partmental clubs ;  these  are  united  in  an  organization  called 
The  University  Union.  Original  papers  are  read  before  the 
English  Club  by  instructors,  students,  and  invited  guests. 
Three  clubs  are  appointed  each  quarter  to  present  papers  at 
a  public  meeting  of  the  University  Union.  A  prize  of  fifty 
dollars  goes  to  the  student  chosen  by  competition  to  represent 
each  club. 

Two  so-called  "  Senior  ''  fellowships,  or  four  "  Junior  ^'  fel- 
lowships, are  assigned  to  the  Department  of  English.  These 
are  granted  to  college  graduates  of  exceptional  ability  who 
plan  to  do  advanced  work  in  English.  Owing  to  the  large 
number  of  applicants,  four  "  Junior "  fellowships  have  been 
awarded  for  the  coming  year.  Each  of  these  gives  to  the 
holder  ^320  in  cash.  Two  other  fellowships  for  this  Depart- 
ment have  been  provided  for  this  year  by  private  generosity. 


ENGLISH  AT  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  INDIANA. 

PROFESSOR  MARTIN   W.    SAMPSON. 

In  September,  1893,  the  English  department  of  the  Uni- 
versity of  Indiana  was  completely  reorganized.  Six  men  —  a 
professor,  and  five  instructors  —  were  appointed  to  carry  on 
the  work.  The  present  course  is  our  attempt  to  meet  exist- 
ing conditions.  Each  department  must  offer  a  full  course  of 
study  leading  to  the  bachelor's  degree.  Our  students  gradu- 
ate in  Greek,  in  mathematics,  in  sociology,  in  English,  or  in 
any  one  of  the  dozen  other  departments,  with  the  uniform 
degree  of  A.B.  About  a  third  of  the  student's  time  is  given 
to  required  studies,  a  third  to  the  special  work  of  the  chosen 
department,  and  a  third  to  elective  studies.  The  department 
of  English,  then,  is  required  to  offer  a  four  years'  course  of 
five  hours  a  week ;  as  a  matter  of  fact,  it  offers  considerably 
more. 

The  English  courses  fall  into  three  distinct  natural  groups 
—  language,  composition,  and  literature,  —  in  each  of  which 
work  may  be  pursued  for  four  or  more  years.  One  year  of 
this  work  is  required  of  all  students  ;  the  rest  is  elective. 
With  two  exceptions,  all  our  courses  run  throughout  the 
year. 

The  linguistic  work  is  under  the  charge  of  Mr.  Harris. 
The  elementary  courses  are  a  beginning  class  in  Old  English 
prose,  and  one  in  the  history  of  the  language.  Then  follow  a 
course  in  Chaucer,  the  mystery  plays,  and  Middle  English 
romances  and  lyrics;  an  advanced  course  in  Old  English 
poetry,  including  a  seminary  study  of  Beowulf ;  the  history 


ENGLISH   AT   THE   UNIVERSITY   OF   INDIANA.  93 

of  Old  and  Middle  English  literature  ;  and  a  course  in  histor- 
ical English  grammar,  which  makes  a  special  examination  of 
forms  and  constructions  in  modern  prose.  In  these  classes 
the  intention  is  to  lead  the  student  into  independent  investi- 
gation as  soon  as  he  is  prepared  for  it. 

In  composition,  the  work  is  as  completely  practical  as  we 
can  make  it.  Writing  is  learned  by  writing  papers,  each  one 
of  which  is  corrected  and  rewritten.  There  are  no  recitations 
in  "  rhetoric."  The  bugbear  known  generally  in  our  colleges 
as  Freshman  English  is  now  a  part  of  our  entrance  require- 
ment, and  university  instruction  in  composition  begins  with 
those  fortunate  students  who  have  some  little  control  of  their 
native  language  when  a  pen  is  between  their  fingers.  We  are 
still  obliged,  however,  to  supply  instruction  to  students  con- 
ditioned in  entrance  English,  and  the  conditioned  classes 
make  the  heaviest  drain  upon  the  instructors'  time.  The 
first  regular  class  receives  students  who  write  clearly  and  can 
compose  good  paragraphs.  The  subjects  of  the  year's  work 
are  narration,  description,  exposition.  In  the  next  year's 
class,  an  attempt  is  made  to  stimulate  original  production  in 
prose  and  verse.  A  certain  amount  of  criticism  upon  contem- 
porary writing  enters  into  this  course  —  the  object  being  to 
point  out  what  is  good  in  (for  example)  current  magazines 
and  reviews,  and  thus  to  hold  before  the  student  an  ideal  not 
altogether  impossible  of  attainment.  A  young  writer  con- 
fronted with  the  virtues  and  defects  of  Macaulay  and  De 
Quincey  is  likelier  to  be  discouraged  or  made  indifferent, 
than  inspired,  as  far  as  his  own  style  is  concerned.  If  he  is 
shown  wherein  a  "  Brief  "  in  The  Dial  is  better  than  his  own 
review  of  the  book,  he  is  in  a  fair  way  to  improve.  And  so 
with  the  sketches,  stories,  and  even  poems.  Of  course  cur- 
rent magazine  writing  is  not  held  up  as  ideal  literature ;  nor, 
on  the  other  hand,  is  the  production  of  literature  deemed  a 
possible  part  of  college  study.     The  work  in  this  branch  of 


94  THE   TEACHING   OF   ENGLISH. 

English  is  rounded  off  by  a  class  for  students  who  intend  to 
teach  composition.  The  theory  of  rhetoric  is  studied,  and 
something  of  its  history ;  school  texts  in  rhetoric  are  ex- 
amined ;  and  finally  the  class  learns  the  first  steps  in  teaching 
by  taking  charge  of  elementary  classes. 

In  the  literary  courses  the  required  work  comes  first. 
Many  students  take  no  more  English  than  these  prescribed 
three  terms  of  five  hours  a  week ;  many  others  continue  the 
study ;  and  the  problem  has  been  to  arrange  the  course  so  as 
to  create  in  the  former  class  the  habit  of  careful  and  sym- 
pathetic reading,  and  at  the  same  time  to  give  the  latter  class 
a  safe  foundation  for  future  work.  The  plan  is  to  read  in 
the  class,  with  the  greatest  attention  to  detail,  one  or  more 
characteristic  works  of  the  authors  chosen  (Scott,  Shake- 
speare, Thackeray,  George  Eliot),  and  to  require  as  outside 
work  a  good  deal  of  rapid  collateral  reading.  This  class  and 
most  of  the  composition  classes  are  conducted  by  Messrs. 
Sembower,  Thomas,  Chamberlin,  and  Stempel. 

The  course  in  English  prose  style  begins  in  the  second 
year,  and  follows  the  method  of  the  late  Professor  Minto. 
Macaulay,  De  Quincey,  Carlyle,  Ruskin,  and  Arnold  are  the 
writers  taken  up.  A  course  in  American  authors  finds  then  a 
place.  Then  comes  a  course  in  poetry  :  Coleridge,  Words- 
worth, Byron,  Shelley,  Keats,  Tennyson,  Browning.  Complete 
editions  of  all  the  poets,  except  the  last,  are  used,  and  the 
year's  work  is  meant  to  serve  as  an  introduction  to  the  critical 
reading  of  poetry.  A  separate  course  of  one  term  in  metrics 
accompanies  the  poetry  course.  In  the  drama  there  is  a  full 
course  in  Shakespeare  and  other  Elizabetlians  (which  presup- 
poses the  first  year's  work  in  Shakespeare),  and  also  a  course 
in  classical  drama,  Greek  and  French,  studied  in  translation. 
The  dramatic  courses  begin  with  a  discussion  of  Professor 
Moulton's  books  on  Shakespeare,  and  on  the  Greek  drama, 
and  then  take  up  independent  study  of  as  many  plays  as  pos- 


ENGLISH   AT   THE   UNIVERSITY   OF   INDIANA.  95 

sible.  The  last  regular  course  is  the  literary  seminary,  which 
during  the  coming  year  will  investigate,  as  far  as  the  library 
will  allow,  the  rise  of  romantic  poetry  in  England.  Special 
research  courses  are  arranged  for  students  who  wish  to  pur- 
sue their  English  studies.  It  may  be  added  that,  in  order  to 
graduate  in  English,  work  must  be  taken  in  each  of  the  three 
groups  of  the  Department. 

It  has  been  my  effort,  naturally,  to  arrange  the  courses  in 
a  logical  order,  advancing  from  the  simple  to  the  more  diffi- 
cult, and  covering  as  wide  a  range  as  is  consistent  with  thor- 
oughness ;  this  latter  quality  being  an  ideal  kept  always  in 
view  —  would  we  might  say  as  confidently,  in  reach.  And  as 
to  the  method  of  conducting  classes,  each  instructor  teaches 
as  he  pleases ;  any  man's  best  method  is  the  one  that  appeals 
to  him  at  the  time. 

And  now,  as  to  that  vexed  question.  How  shall  literature 
be  taught  ?  Class-room  methods  vary  in  the  Department,  but 
our  ultimate  object  is  the  same.  The  aim,  then,  in  teaching 
literature  is,  I  think,  to  give  the  student  a  thorough  under- 
standing of  what  he  reads,  and  the  ability  to  read  sympathet- 
ically and  understandingly  in  the  future.  If  we  use  the 
phrase  "  to  read  intelligently,"  we  name  the  object  of  every 
instructor's  teaching.  But  in  the  definition  of  this  ideal  we 
come  upon  so  many  differences  of  opinion  that  in  reality  it 
means  not  one  thing  but  a  thousand.  To  touch  upon  a  few 
obsolescent  notions  —  to  one  teacher  it  meant  to  fill  the  stu- 
dent full  of  biography  and  literary  history ;  to  another  it 
meant  to  put  the  student  in  possession  of  what  the  best 
critics,  or  the  worst  ones,  had  said  about  the  artist  and  his 
work ;  to  another  it  meant  making  a  pother  over  numberless 
petty  details  of  the  text  (a  species  of  literary  parsing) ;  to 
another  it  meant  harping  on  the  moral  purposes  of  the  poet 
or  novelist ;  anything,  in  short,  except  placing  the  student 
face  to  face  with  the  work  itself,  and  acting  as  his  spectacles 
when  his  eyesight  was  blurred. 


96  THE  TEACHING  OF   ENGLISH. 

The  negations  of  all  these  theories  have  become  the  com- 
monplaces of  to-day  —  truisms  among  a  certain  class  of 
teachers.  To  repeat  those  principles  that  have  thus  become 
truisms  of  theory  (not  yet  of  practice  —  the  difference  is  pro- 
found), we  have  first  the  truth  that  the  study  of  literature 
means  the  study  of  literature,  not  of  biography  nor  of  literary 
history  (incidentally  of  vast  importance),  not  of  grammar,  not 
of  etymology,  not  of  anything  except  the  works  themselves, 
viewed  as  their  creators  wrote  them,  viewed  as  art,  as  tran- 
scripts of  humanity,  —  not  as  logic,  not  as  psychology,  not  as 
ethics. 

The  second  point  is  that  we  are  concerned  with  the  study 
of  literature.  And  here  is  the  parting  of  the  ways.  Grant- 
ing we  concern  ourselves  with  ^urejit^jature  only,  just  how 
shall  we  concern  ourselves  with  it  ?  There  are  many 
methods,  but  these  methods  are  of  two  kinds  only :  the 
method  of  the  professor  who  preaches  the  beauty  of  the  poet's 
utterance,  and  the  method  of  him  who  makes  his  student  sys- 
tematically approach  the  work  as  a  work  of  art,  find  out  the 
laws  of  its  existence  as  such,  the  mode  of  its  manifestation, 
the  meaning  it  has,  and  the  significance  of  that  meaning — 
in  brief,  to  have  his  students  interpret  the  work  of  art  and 
ascertain  what  makes  it  just  that  and  not  something  else. 
Literature,  as  every  reader  profoundly  feels,  is  an  appeal  to 
all  sides  of  our  nature  ;  but  I  venture  to  insist  that  as  a  study 
—  and  this  is  the  point  at  issue  —  it  must  be  approached 
intellectually.  And  here  the  purpose  of  literature,  and  the 
purpose  of  studying  literature,  must  be  sharply  discriminated. 
The  question  is  not,  Apprehending  literature,  how  shall  I  let 
it  influence  me  ?  The  question  most  definitely  is.  How  shall 
I  learn  to  apprehend  literature,  that  thereby  it  may  influence 
me? 

As  far  as  class  study  is  concerned,  the  instructors  must 
draw  the  line  once  for  all  between  the  liking  for  reading  and 


ENGLISH  AT  THE  UNIVERSITY   OF   INDIANA.  97 

the  understanding  of  literature.  To  all  who  assert  that  the 
study  of  literature  must  take  into  account  the  emotions,  that 
it  must  remember  questions  of  taste,  I  can  only  answer 
impatiently,  Yes,  I  agree  ;  but  between  taking  them  into  ac- 
count, and  making  them  the  prime  object  of  the  study,  there 
is  the  difference  between  day  and  night.  It  is  only  by  recog- 
nizing this  difference  that  we  professors  of  English  cease  to 
make  ourselves  ridiculous  in  the  eyes  of  those  who  see  into 
the  heart  of  things,  that  we  can  at  all  successfully  disprove 
Freeman's  remark  —  caustic  and  four-fifths  true  —  ^'  English 
literature  is  only  chatter  about  Shelley."  As  a  friend  of  mine 
puts  it :  To  understand  literature  is  a  matter  of  study,  and 
may  be  taught  in  the  class-room ;  to  love  literature  is  a 
matter  of  character,  and  can  never  be  taught  in  a  class-room. 
The  professor  who  tries  chiefly  to  make  his  students  love 
literature  wastes  his  energy  for  the  sake  of  a  few  students 
who  would  love  poetry  anyway,  and  sacrifices  the  majority  of 
his  class,  who  are  not  yet  ripe  enough  to  love  it.  The  profes- 
sor who  tries  chiefly  to  make  his  students  understand  litera- 
ture will "  give  them  something  to  incorporate  into  their 
characters.  For  it  is  the  peculiar  grace  of  literature  that 
whoso  understands  it  loves  it.  It  becomes  to  him  a  perma- 
nent possession,  not  a  passing  thrill. 

To  revert  to  our  University  work  in  English,  we  have  been 
confronted  with  a  peculiar  local  condition.  Some  time  ago. 
Professor  Hale  of  the  University  of  Iowa  said  in  The  Dial,  that 
in  the  West  there  was  comparatively  little  feeling  for  style. 
That  certainly  applies  to  the  Indiana  students  I  have  met. 
But  the  lowans,  it  was  my  experience,  were  willing  to  study 
style  and  develop  their  latent  feeling.  Widespread  in  In- 
diana, however,  I  find  the  firm  conviction  that  style  is  un-/ 
worthy  of  serious  consideration.  A  poem  is  simply  so  much 
thought;  its  '^ form-side,"  to  use  a  favorite  student  expres- 
sion, ought   to  be  ignored.     And   of   the   thought,  only   the 


98  THE  TEACHING  OF   ENGLISH. 

ethical  bearing  of  it  is  significant.  Poetry  is  merely  a  ques- 
tion of  morals,  and  beauty  has  no  excuse  for  being.  The 
plan  of  procedure  is :  believe  unyieldingly  in  a  certain  philos- 
ophy of  life ;  take  a  poem  and  read  that  philosophy  into  it. 
This  is  the  "  thought-side  "  of  literature.  Our  first  year  has 
been  largely  an  attempt  to  set  up  other  aims  than  these. 


ENGLISH   AT    THE  UNIVERSITY   OF   CALIFORNIA. 

PROFESSOR   CHARLES   MILLS    GAYLEY. 

The  teaching  force  in  English  in  the  University  of  Cali- 
fornia consists  of  seven  men :  three  instructors,  Messrs.  Syle, 
Sanford,  and  Hart ;  an  assistant  professor  of  English  litera- 
ture, Mr.  W.  D.  Amies  ;  an  associate  professor  of  English 
philology,  Dr.  A.  F.  Lange ;  a  professor  of  rhetoric,  Mr.  C. 
B.  Bradley ;  and  a  professor  of  the  English  language  and  lit- 
erature, who  is  head  of  the  Department.  For  the  year  1894-5 
the  Department  offers  thirty-one  courses.  Of  these,  twenty- 
four,  covering  seventy-five  hours  of  work  (slightly  more  than 
three  hours  a  week  each  for  half  the  year),  are  designed  for 
undergraduates,  and  seven  (of  two  hours  a  week  each)  for 
graduates.  In  1893-4  there  were  in  the  University  1,383 
students,  of  whom  815,  attending  the  Academic  and  Technical 
Colleges  in  Berkeley,  fell  to  a  greater  or  less  extent  within 
the  jurisdiction  of  the  English  Department.  Including  the 
class  of  317  Freshmen,  there  were,  during  the  first  term, 
sixty  per  cent  of  the  students  in  Berkeley  in  the  English 
classes  ;  during  the  year  there  were  about  seventy  per  cent. 
The  total  enrolment  of  students  in  English  courses  during 
the  first  term  was  873,  of  whom  397,  or  forty-eight  per  cent 
of  the  students  in  Berkeley,  were  taking  more  than  one 
course  in  English.  [At  the  date  of  the  revision  of  this  arti- 
cle, June,  1895,  the  University  has  1,781  students,  to  1,124 
of  whom,  in  the  Colleges  in  Berkeley,  the  English  courses 
are   open.     Including   the   Freshman   class,   which   numbers 

99 


100  THE  TEACHING   OF  ENGLISH. 

about  400,  the  total  enrolment  in  the  English  courses  at  pres- 
ent amounts  to  951.] 

In  the  consideration  of  university  work  in  any  line,  four 
things  must  be  taken  into  account :  the  specific  preparation 
with  which  students  enter,  the  equipment  and  administration 
of  the  department  in  question,  the  organization  of  studies, 
and  the  methods  of  instruction  and  investigation. 

In  the  matter  of  entrance  requirements  in  English  the 
University  has  adopted  an  increasingly  high  standard.  It 
calls  for  a  high-school  course  of  at  least  three  years,  at  the 
rate  of  five  hours  a  week  ;  and  it  advocates,  and  from  some 
schools  secures,  a  four  years'  course.  These  requirements 
can  scarcely  be  described,  as  in  the  fourth  article  ^of  this 
series,  as  similar  to  those  of  the  New  England  Association. 
The  requirements  of  that  Association,  so  far  as  they  go,  are 
similar  to  those  of  California  ;  but  they  do  not  go  more  than 
two-thirds  of  the  way  in  extent  or  in  stringency.  There  is 
nothing,  to  my  knowledge,  in  the  English  requirements  of 
other  universities  that  is  equivalent  to  our  course  in  Greek, 
Norse,  and  German  mythology  as  illustrated  by  English 
literature  (required  of  all  applicants  for  admission),  or  to  the 
course  in  arguments  and  orations  (hitherto,  three  of  Burke's), 
or  to  the  course  in  English  poetry  which  covers  some  twenty- 
five  of  the  longer  masterpieces.  These  are  additional  to  the 
usual  requirements  in  essay,  drama,  and  narrative.  While 
the  preparatory  work  in  literature  is  generally  well  done,  the 
work  in  rhetoric  and  composition  is  not  yet  up  to  the  mark. , 
Our  system  of  examining  and  accrediting  schools  is,  how- 
ever, so  strict,  and  the  supervision  of  English  teaching  in 
the  schools  so  minute,  that  we  look  for  decided  improvement, 
within  a  reasonable  period,  in  the  matter  of  composition. 
The  Department  does  not  content  itself  with  requiring  a  sat- 
isfactory test-composition  of  students  at  matriculation ;  for, 
although  that  would  be  an  easy  way  of  shifting  the  burden 


ENGLISH   AT  THE   UNIVERSITY  OF   CALIFORNIA.    101 

from  the  University  to  the  schools,  it  is  but  a  poor  substitute 
for  the  pedagogical  assistance  due  to  the  schools.  With  the 
annual  application  for  accrediting  in  English,  each  school  is 
required  to  send  for  inspection  samples  of  compositions  and 
other  exercises  written  by  pupils  of  all  classes.  If  these 
samples  are  satisfactory,  the  school  is  visited  by  one  of  the 
professors  of  English,  who  carefully  scrutinizes  the  work  of 
teachers  and  pupils.  The  Department  is  conservative  in  ac- 
crediting ;  and  English  is  generally  considered  to  be  one  of 
the  most  difficult  studies  in  the  curriculum  of  the  schools  of 
California.  Non-accredited  pupils  are,  of  course,  subjected 
to  the  usual  entrance  examination  in  literature,  rhetoric,  and 
composition.  As  supplementary  to  personal  supervision, 
the  professors  of  English  have  recently  published  for  the 
guidance  of  teachers  a  pamphlet  entitled  English  in  the  Sec- 
ondary Schools,  outlining  the  preparatory  course,  indicating 
the  proper  sequence  of  studies,  and  suggesting  methods  of 
instruction.  1 

With  regard  to  the  equipment  and  administration  of  the 
department,  while  the  divisions  of  rhetoric,  linguistics,  and 
literature  and  criticism  are  severally  represented  by  Profes- 
sor Bradley,  Professor  Lange,  and  myself,  and  while  each  of 
the  instructors  is  held  responsible  for  a  certain  subject  and 
certain  sections  of  students,  it  is  the  policy  of  the  department 
to  observe  a  reasonable  Lehj'freiheif.  This  it  accomplishes, 
first,  by  maintaining  a  conservative  rotation  (say,  once  in 
three  years)  of  the  teachers  in  charge  of  courses  involving 
drill  and  routine ;  and,  secondly,  by  encouraging  each  teacher 
of  preliminary  courses,  when  once  he  has  his  prescribed  work 
well  in  hand,  to  offer  at  least  one  elective  higher  course.     Ac- 

1  Since  the  policy  of  issuing  departmental  monographs  on  methods  of 
secondary  instruction  is  perhaps  novel,  it  may  be  well  to  say  that  teachers 
in  the  public  schools  may  obtain  copies  of  this  pamphlet  from  the  Recorder 
of  the  University,  Berkeley,  Cal.     Postage,  two  cents. 


102  THE  TEACHING   OP   ENGLISH. 

cordingly,  of  our  instructors,  Mr.  Syle  offers  courses  in  the 
literature  of  the  eighteenth  century ;  and  Mr.  Sanford  in 
Spenser,  and  in  the  romantic  movement.  That  the  same  man 
should  teach  the  elements  of  style,  or  of  literary  history,  or 
should  correct  themes,  year  in  and  year  out,  is,  even  though 
texts  and  methods  be  varied,  pedagogical  suicide.  The  plan 
here  described  does  much  to  counteract  the  insensibility,  or 
disgust,  that  frequently  attends  prolonged  indulgence  in  the 
habit  of  theme-correcting.  We  find  also  that  the  occasional 
conduct  of  preliminary  courses  acts  as  a  tonic  upon  teachers 
habituated  to  higher,  and  graduate,  courses.  While  in  all 
cases  the  specialty  is  still  pursued,  the  field  of  information  is 
widened,  methods  are  liberalized,  and  the  zest  of  teaching  is 
enhanced  by  the  adoption  of  the  principle  of  Lehrfreihelt. 

The  administration  of  the  Department  is  republican. 
Each  instructor  is  independent  within  his  sphere  of  activity. 
When,  as  in  the  matter  of  texts  or  methods,  concerted  action 
is  necessary,  the  decision  is  made  by  the  instructors  con- 
cerned, subject  to  the  approval  of  the  head  of  the  Department. 
The  advisability  of  new  courses,  the  scope  and  form  of  the 
annual  announcement,  and  matters  of  general  departmental 
policy,  are  discussed  at  the  appropriate  monthly  meeting  of 
the  English  faculty.  Ordinarily,  and  primarily,  however,  the 
Department  meets  as  a  Critical  Thought  Club.  The  purpose 
of  the  club  is  to  keep  abreast  of  recent  contributions  in  com- 
parative literature,  philology,  aesthetics,  and  educational 
theory.  The  field  of  reading  is  apportioned  among  the  mem- 
bers, and  informal  reports  are  had  on  books  and  articles 
bearing  in  any  way  upon  the  study  of  English. 

The  organization  of  studies  in  a  department  is  perhaps 
a  surer  index  of  the  purpose  of  instruction  than  any  care- 
fully formulated  statement  of  aims.  The  English  courses 
are  classified  as  preliminary  and  advanced.  The  preliminary 
courses,  whether  prescribed  or  elective,  are  prerequisite   to 


ENGLISH   AT   THE   UNIVERSITY   OF   CALIFORNIA.     103 

all  advanced  work.  They  attempt  to  furnish  (1)  the  princi- 
ples of  style  and  the  practice  of  written  and  oral  composition ; 
(2)  the  commonplaces  of  literary  tradition;  (3)  a  synoptic 
view  of  English  literature  by  the  study  of  the  principal 
authors.^  The  advanced  courses  are  subdivided  in  the  usual 
way,  as  primarily  for  juniors  and  seniors,  and  primarily  for 
graduates. 

The  preliminary  courses  are  announced  as  types  of  Eng- 
lish prose  style,  supplementary  reading,  practical  rhetoric, 
English  masterpieces,  general  history  of  English  literature, 
and  argumentation.  The  first  is  required,  at  the  rate  of  four 
hours  a  week  through  the  year,  of  all  Freshmen  in  the  Aca- 
demic Colleges ;  the  second  (one  hour  any  two  consecutive 
terms)  of  non-classical  students  in  these  Colleges.  The  third 
and  the  fourth  are  prescribed  in  the  Colleges  of  Chemistry  and 
Agriculture.  All  other  English  courses  are  elective ;  and  in 
the  Engineering  Colleges  English  is  altogether  elective.  Of 
prescribed  preliminary  courses,  that  in  English  prose  style 
aims  to  acquaint  the  student,  at  first  hand,  with  the  features 
and  elements  of  effective  workmanship  in  prose-writing,  and 
to  train  him  to  discern  the  salient  qualities  of  any  well- 
marked  prose  style  presented  for  his  consideration.  The 
course  is  based  upon  the  direct  study  of  selected  groups  of 
authors.  The  course  of  supplementary  reading  extends, 
as  far  as  time  will  permit,  the  acquaintance  of  the  student 
with  the  Hellenic,  Teutonic,  or  Romance  'epics,  or  other 
classics  in  translation.  It  serves  as  an  introduction  to  the 
common  and  traditional  store  of  literary  reference,  allusion, 
and  im.agery,  and  as  a  basis  for  paragraph-writing.  The 
best  translations  of  the  Iliad,  the  Odyssey,  the  Beowulf,  the 
Jerusalerti  Delivered,  Morris's  Sigurd  the  Volsung,  etc.,  are 
studied.  These  courses,  and  the  course  in  practical  rhet- 
oric for  scientific  students,  in  general  serve  to  stimulate  con- 

1  Beginning  with  1895-6  a  year's  course  in  Old  English  will  be  prelimi- 
nary to  all  advanced  work. 


104  THE  TEACHING   OF   ENGLISH. 

structive  effort  and  practical  skill  in  writing  pari  passu  with 
analytical  effort  and  the  acquisition  of  information.  They 
accordingly  include  first  the  weekly  exercise  in  paragraph- 
writing,  written  in  the  class-room  upon  some  topic  not  pre- 
viously announced,  but  involving  acquaintance  with  the 
supplementary  reading  assigned  for  the  week;  and,  secondly, 
a  carefully  supervised  series  of  compositions.  Three  themes 
have  been  required  each  term.  The  supervision,  which  is 
personal,  extends  to  methods  of  using  the  library,  of  securing 
material  and  of  taking  and  arranging  notes ;  to  limitation 
and  definition  of  subject ;  to  construction  of  a  scheme  of 
presentation  in  advance  of  the  writing,  as  well  as  to  careful 
criticism  of  the  finished  work.  The  organization  and  develop- 
ment of  these  courses  is  in  large  measure  due  to  the  exertions 
of  Professor  Bradley,  to  whom  I  am  indebted  for  the  details  of 
this  description.  It  should  be  added  that  essays  are  required 
in  connection  with  all  work  in  the  English  Department.  The 
course  in  English  masterpieces  for  scientific  students,  given 
by  Mr.  Armes,  involves  the  careful  reading  in  class  of  repre- 
sentative poems  and  essays  of  the  foremost  writers,  and  sup- 
plementary reading  out  of  class.  Of  elective  preliminary 
courses,  that  in  the  general  history  of  English  literature  is 
the  sine  qua  non  for  all  higher  work.  It  presents  a  synop- 
tical view  of  English  literature  as  the  outcome  of,  and  the 
index  to,  English  thought  in  the  course  of  its  development. 
It  is  accordingly  based  upon  a  text-book  of  English  history, 
and  the  copious  reading  of  authors  illustrative  of  social 
and  literary  movements.  It  runs  as  a  three-hour  course 
throughout  the  Sophomore  year,  and  involves  the  reading 
by  each  student,  and  the  discussion  in  class,  of  some  thirty 
masterpieces.  The  course  in  argumentation  comprises  the 
analysis  of  masterpieces,  the  preparation  of  briefs,  and  the 
delivery  of  arguments  exemplifying  the  use  of  the  syllogism 
and   the   exposure  of   fallacies.     It  must  be  preceded  by  a 


ENGLISH   AT   THE   UNIVERSITY  OF   CALIFORNIA.    105 

course   in  formal  logic,  and    is   introductory  to  a  course  in 
forensics. 

The  advanced  courses  for  undergraduates  are  grouped  as 
(1)  Rhetoric  and  the  theory  of  criticism  :  four  courses ;  (2) 
Linguistics  :  four  courses,  including,  besides  grammar,  history, 
and  criticism,  the  comparative  study  of  the  Germanic  sources 
of  English  culture,  and  Germanic  philology  ;  (3)  The  histor- 
ical and  critical  study  of  literature :  eleven  courses  in  chrono- 
logical sequence,  by  (a)  periods,  (h)  authors,  (c)  literary 
movements,  (d)  the  evolution  of  types.  The  first  of  these 
groups  is  essential  to  the  other  two.  It  involves  the  differenti- 
ation, for  advanced  work,  of  rhetoric  into  its  species  (exposi- 
tion, including  methods  of  literary  research  and  interpretation, 
argumentation,  narration,  etc.),  and  an  introduction  to  the 
compara-tive  and  aesthetic  methods.  A  course  in  poetics  out- 
lines the  theory  of  art,  the  theory  and  development  of  litera- 
ture, the  relations  of  poetry  and  prose,  the  principles  of 
versification,  and  the  canons,  inductive  and  deductive,  of 
dramatic  criticism.  It  is  usually  accompanied  by  lectures 
on  the  aesthetics  of  literature.  This  course  is  followed  by 
the  problems  of  literary  criticism :  a  comparative  inquiry 
into  the  growth,  technique,  and  function  of  literary  types 
other  than  the  drama.  The  attempt  is  made  to  arrive  by  in- 
duction at  the  characteristics  common  to  the  national  varieties 
of  a  type,  and  to  formulate  these  in  the  light  of  aesthetic 
theory.  The  resulting  laws  are  applied  as  canons  of  criticism 
to  English  masterpieces  of  that  type.  The  method  has  been 
described  by  a  former  student  in  the  Century  Magazine,  Jan- 
uary 1891.  The  reading  and  discussions  are  guided  by  ques- 
tions, suggestions,  and  reference  lists  —  part  of  a  manual  of 
literary  criticism  now  in  press  (Ginn  &  Co.,  Boston).  For 
lack  of  space  the  courses  in  linguistics  and  literature  cannot 
be  enumerated.  Students  making  English  their  principal 
study   must   include    in    their    elections    linguistics,    poetics, 


106  THE  TEACHING  OP  ENGLISH. 

criticism,  and  the  intensive  study  of  at  least  one  literary 
master  and  of  one  literary  type  or  movement.  For  the 
teacher's  certificate  linguistics  is  indispensable. 

The  courses  primarily  for  graduates  have  a  twofold  aim : 
first,  to  impart  information ;  secondly,  and  principally,  to 
encourage  original  research.  This  differentiation  by  purpose 
is  necessarily  relative.  Under  the  former  heading,  however, 
falls  one  of  the  philological  courses.  Old  Icelandic  (Lange). 
Under  the  latter  falls  another  philological  course,  First  Mod- 
ern English,  an  investigation  into  the  orthographic,  phonetic, 
and  syntactical  changes  of  sixteenth  century  English  (Lange), 
and  various  literary  courses  which  may  be  classified  as  aes- 
thetic, comparative,  and  critical.  The  course  in  the  history 
of  aesthetic  theory,  which,  by  the  courtesy  of  the  professor 
of  philosophy,  is  at  present  in  my  hands,  is  a  study  at  first 
hand  of  the  principal  authorities  in  aesthetics,  and  of  the  liter- 
ary art  that  chiefly  influenced  them.  The  course  may  be  said 
to  deal  with  fundamental  literary  forces.  It  is  given  both 
terms  and  extends  through  three  years.  In  1893-^  Plato  and 
Aristotle  were  studied  and  Plotinus  begun.  In  1894-5  we 
came  down  as  far  as  Hegel.  Next  year  we  shall  make  a 
special  study  of  Coleridge  and  Wordsworth.  The  courses 
which  I  have  called  comparative  deal  with  literary  movements. 
They  are  four  in  number :  the  mediaeval  spirit  as  related  to 
art,' its  chief  exponents  in  English  literature  and  its  modern 
revivals  (Bradley) ;  the  influence  of  Germany  on  English  lit- 
erature of  the  eighteenth  and  nineteenth  centuries  (Lange)  ; 
the  development  of  the  English  essay  (Bradley) ;  and  prob- 
lems in  the  growth  of  English  comedy  (Gayley).  A  purely 
critical  course,  dealing  with  literary  methods,  is  offered  by 
Professor  Bradley,  in  the  study  of  the  entire  production  of 
some  author  of  limited  scope. 

To  graduate  courses  of  information  and  of  research  might 
legitimately  be  added  courses  having  a  third  purpose:  the  en- 


(iffNIVEBSITT 


ENGLISH   AT   THE  UNIVERSITY   OF   CALIFORNIA.     107 

couragement  of  literary  creation.^  We  have  as  yet  none  such 
in  the  University  of  California,  unless  that  denominated  special 
study,  under  which  we  announce  ourselves  ready  to  assist  and 
advise  competent  graduates  in  approved  plans  of  work,  may 
be  construed  as  sufficient  for  the  emergency.  Academic  schol- 
arship does  not  look  with  favor  upon  the  attempt  to  stimulate 
or  foster  creative  production.  But,  if  charily  advised,  saga- 
ciously circumscribed,  and  conducted  under  the  personal  su- 
pervisioti  of  a  competent  critic,  constructive  literary  effort 
may  surely  find  a  place  in  the  curriculum  of  an  exceptional 
graduate,  —  never,  of  course,  unattended  by  other  study  with 
informative  or  disciplinary  purpose  in  view.  There  is,  now- 
adays, no  reason  why  genius  should  be  untutored,  or  its  early 
productions  unkempt. 

With  regard  to  methods  of  instruction  no  stereotyped  habit 
obtains.  In  our  lower  classes  the  text-book  is  not  always  used. 
When  used  it  is  treated  as  a  guide,  not  as  a  bible.  In  both 
lower  and  higher  classes,  recitations,  reports  on  reading,  dis- 
cussion of  topics,  informal  or  formal  lectures,  interpretative 
reading,  and  personal  conference  prevail,  in  such  combination 
or  with  such  preference  as  the  instructor  may  deem  wise. 
Students,  however,  are  always  put  to  work  on  the  master- 
pieces themselves. 

With  regard  to  methods  of  investigation,  we  believe  that 
a  certain  catholicity  of  attitude  —  not  inconsistent  with  alert- 
ness—  should  be  observed.  The  present  anarchy,  sometimes 
tyranny,  of  method  is  due  generally  to  a  deficient  organization 
of  studies ;  and  that,  in  turn,  to  an  incomprehensive  view  of 
the  field.  Hence,  the  uncertainty  of  aim  with  which  instruc- 
tion in  English  is  frequently  reproached.  This  lack  of  system 
is,  however,  indicative  onl}^  of  the  fact  that  literary  science  is 
in  a  transitional  stage :  no  longer  static,  not  yet  organic,  but 
genetic.     The  study  of  literature  in  the  sentimental,  the  for- 

1  Such  a  course,  under  the  title  "  Literary  Composition,"  is  offered  for 
1805-G. 


108  THE  TEACHING  OF  ENGLISH. 

mally  stylistic,  or  the  secoixi-hand-liistorical  fashion,  is  out  of 
date.  Scholars  in  philology  —  narrowed  to  linguistics  —  have 
set  the  new  pace  by  making  of  their  branch  a  genetic  study : 
a  study  of  sources,  causes,  relations,  movements,  and  effects. 
Professors  of  literature  and  criticism  are  now,  as  rapidly  as 
may  be,  adapting  progressive  methods,  whether  historical  or 
aesthetic,  to  their  lines  of  research.  But  each  is  naturally 
liable  to  urge  the  method  that  he  favors  or  thinks  that  he  has 
invented.  One,  therefore,  advocates  ethical  and  religious  ex- 
egesis, another  aesthetic  interpretation,  another  comparative 
inquiry,  another  the  historical  study  of  style.  This  is  to  be 
expected ;  and  our  genetic,  and  frequently  sporadic,  stage  of 
literary  science  cannot  fulfil  its  promise  until,  by  elimination 
attrition,  and  adjustment  of  results,  the  way  has  been  pre- 
pared for  something  organic.  Hospitality  to  ideas  and  con- 
servative liberality  of  method  will  hasten  the  advent  of 
systematic  investigation.  Even  now  there  are  those  who 
study  the  masterpiece,  not  only  in  dynamic  relation  to  author 
and  type,  but  also  in  organic  relation  to  the  social  and  artistic 
movements  of  which  author  and  type  are  integral  factors.* 
The  sum  of  the  methods  of  any  literary  inquiry  in  any  col- 
lege course  should  be  exhaustive  so  far  as  circumstancesr 
permit.  The  exigencies  of  time,  training,  and  material  are, 
however,  such  that  due  regard,  in  turn,  for  historical  criti 
cism  (linguistic,  textual,  genetic),  technical  criticism  (distinc- 
tive of  the  type  :  its  evolution,  characteristic,  and  function), 
and  literary  criticism  (ethical,  psychological,  aesthetic)  can 
rarely  be  observed  in  the  study  of  one  specimen  with  one 
class.  The  method,  moreover,  adapted  to  one  author,  master- 
piece, or  type,  is  not  necessarily  of  universal  applicability. 
But  the  duty  of  the  English  Department  in  the  teaching  of 
literature  is  fulfilled  if  the  student,  after  mastering  the  prime 
courses,  with  their  appropriate  means  and  ends,  has  acquired 
a  comprehensive  view  of  literary  art  and  science,  a  rational 


ENGLISH   AT   THE   UNIVERSITY   OF  CALIFORNIA.     109 

method  of  study,  and  a  critical  sensitiveness  to  good  literature 
—  no  matter  in  what  intensive  spirit  it  be  approached.  To 
this  end,  it  is  essential  that  the  synthesis  of  the  courses  and 
the  methods  of  a  department  furnish  a  system. 

With  these  considerations  in  mind  it  is  evident  that  the 
attempt  to  limit  the  teaching  of  English  literature  to  <'  literary 
history,  literary  aesthetics,  the  theory  and  anal^^sis  of  style, 
versification,  and  rhetoric,  and  the  necessary  philological  ap- 
paratus "  would,  though  attractive  in  its  apparent  simplicity, 
end  in  formalism :  that  is,  remand  the  science  to  its  static 
stage.  But  the  limitation  would  be  impossible.  For  form 
and  thought  are^  as  inseparable  in  literature  as  in  life  :  the 
expression  is  inherent  in  the  idea.  To  appreciate  the  art  of 
Dls  Aliter  Visum  is  to  understand  the  ethics  of  Browning: 
that  is,  to  be  a  philosopher.  Sociological,  metaphysical,  and 
ethical  themes  are  within  the  function  of  the  belles-lettrist  as 
soon  as,  emotionalized  and  clad  in  aesthetic  form,  they  enter 
the  field  of  letters.  Nay,  further,  the  methods  of  the  labora- 
tory, chemical  or  biological,  are  within  his  function  as  soon  as 
their  adaptation  may  assist  him  to  weigh  aesthetic  values  or  to 
trace  the  development  of  literary  organisms.  It  is,  conse- 
quently, unwise  to  contemn  scientific  methods,  even  though  in 
the  hands  of  enthusiasts  they  appear  to  countervail  aesthetic 
interpretation  and  discipline.  Monomaniacs  are  forces  in 
periods  of  transition.  It  is  for  those  of  far  gaze  and  patient 
temper  to  compute  results  and  perform  the  synthesis. 

One  thing  is  certain  :  that,  for  the  determination  of  critical 
principles  and  methods,  organized  effort  is  necessary.  To  this 
end  I  propose  the  formation  of  a  Society  of  Comparative 
Literature,  the  general  scope  of  which  will  be  indicated  here- 
after.^ 

1  Professor  Gayley's  communication  on  the  subject  referred  to  appeared 
in  The  Dial  of  August  1,  1894.  It  is  reprinted  in  the  group  of  communica- 
tions which  forms  the  third  division  of  this  volume.  —  [Edr.] 


\ 


ENGLISH   AT   AMHEKST   COLLEGE. 

PROFESSOR  JOHN   F.    GENUNQ. 

No  study  in  our  American  colleges  is  so  directly  and  prac- 
tically important  as  the  study  of  English;  yet  none  is  so 
beset  with  problems  of  administration  and  method.  To  detail 
all  of  these  would  take  up  too  much  space  here ;  I  will  merely 
indicate  some  of  the  leading  ones,  to  the  solution  of  which  the 
teachers  of  English  at  Amherst  have  been  devoting  their  at- 
tention during  the  last  dozen  years.  There  is,  first  of  all,  the 
question  what  to  do  with  it  as  a  required  study.  For  the  old 
idea  seems  a  sound  one,  that  whatever  the  predominance  of 
elective  studies,  English,  at  least  English  composition,  should 
be  required  of  all ;  that  is,  that  no  possibility  should  be  opened 
for  any  student  to  gain  his  degree  without  some  training  in 
the  practical  use  of  his  mother-tongue.  Yet  as  a  required 
study  in  the  midst  of  electives,  English  is  at  a  disadvantage ; 
the  very  fact  that  it  is  compulsory  weights  it  with  an  odium 
which  in  many  colleges  makes  it  the  bugbear  of  the  course. 
This  ill  repute  was  increased  in  the  old-fashioned  college 
course  by  the  makeshift  way  in  which  time  was  grudged  out 
to  it  in  the  curriculum.  Under  the  name  of  "  rhetoricals," 
English  declamations,  orations,  and  essays  used  to  be  sand- 
wiched in  where  some  little  crevice  opened  between  other 
studies,  once  a  week  perhaps,  or  at  some  irregular  hour  sup- 
posably  unavailable  for  anything  else.  Now  every  teacher 
knows  that  a  once-a-week  study  cannot  be  carried  on  with 
much  profit  or  interest ;  it  cannot  but  be  a  weariness  to  stu- 
dent and  instructor  alike.     It  finds  its  way  into  the  hands  of 

110 


ENGLISH   AT   AMHERST  COLLEGE.  Ill 

incompetent  and  inexperienced  teachers ;  it  has  to  rank  as  the 
Ishmael  among  the  studies. 

It  was  the  conviction  of  the  teachers  of  English  at  Amherst 
that  such  ill  repute  was  by  no  means  a  necessary  accompani- 
ment of  their  department.  They  believed  that  English,  if 
granted  a  fair  chance,  could  trust  to  its  own  intrinsic  value 
and  interest  for  survival,  as  confidently  as  could  any  other 
study.  I  need  not  here  recount  the  history  of  their  quiet  and 
steady  work,  first  to  gain  a  fair  meed  of  time  for  the  various 
branches  of  their  department,  then  to  obtain  recognition  for  it 
as  an  elective  study  by  the  side  of  other  electives,  finally  to 
retain  the  proper  relation  and  balance  of  elective  and  required 
study.  All  this  came  about  so  naturally  as  to  seem  a  spon- 
taneous evolution  rather  than  what  it  actually  was,  a  strenu- 
ous and  determined  working  out  of  a  plan. 

Another  problem,  especially  perplexing  on  the  composition 
side  of  the  study,  is  the  problem  what  to  do  with  English 
as  a  mother-tongue,  with  which  the  student  has  been  con- 
versant all  his  life,  from  which,  therefore,  the  mystery  and 
labor  of  grammar  and  lexicon  are  eliminated.  The  time 
devoted  to  grinding  at  these  in  the  classics,  or  to  puzzling 
over  intricate  mathematical  problems,  is  time  gained  for  study 
and  hard  drill.  What  shall  be  done  with  a  subject  that  has 
no  such  study-compelling  advantages,  a  subject,  indeed,  whose 
highest  prizes  of  grace  and  spontaneity  seem  perversely  to 
refuse  themselves  to  the  student  almost  in  proportion  to  the 
strenuousness  of  his  labor  ?  Drill  must  be  furnished,  but 
the  drill  must  be  wisely  directed.  And  one  thing  can  be 
done.  It  can  be  recognized  that  such  seeming  is  not  the 
whole  truth ;  that  beyond  the  stiff  and  labored  stage  in  writ- 
ing, as  also  beyond  the  dashing  and  accidentally  brilliant 
stage,  there  is  a  calm  permanence  of  assured  mastery,  cor- 
responding to  what  the  runner  calls  his  second  wind,  wherein 
the  writer  can  do  his  best  and  keep  it  up.      Toward  this  goal 


112  THE  TEACHING   OF  ENGLISH. 

of  mastery  the  drill  of  writing  and  exercises  m.  language 
should  be  directed;  and  this  not  only  by  setting  the  student 
working  systematically  through  the  crude  and  rudimentary 
stage,  but  by  infusing  into  his  task  such  interest  as  will  give 
it  vitality. 

The  best  term,  perhaps,  by  which  to  characterize  the  way 
in  which  the  teachers  of  English  at  Amherst  have  met  these 
problems  is  laboratory  work.  Whatever  the  diversities  of 
aim  and  method  between  the  teachers,  in  this  respect  they 
are  at  one :  each  of  their  courses  is  a  veritable  workshop, 
wherein,  by  systematized  daily  drill,  details  are  mastered  one 
by  one,  and  that  unity  of  result  is  obtained  which  is  more  for 
practical  use  than  for  show. 

The  required  work  in  English,  which  is  all  under  the  charge 
of  Professor  Henry  A.  Frink,  has  to  do  with  the  English  of 
oral  expression.  It  consists  of  two  terms  of  elocutionary  drill, 
or  declamation,  in  Freshman  year,  and  one  in  Sophomore 
year ;  two  terms  of  rhetoric,  carried  on  by  means  of  essays, 
exercises,  and  lectures,  in  Freshman  year  ;  and  three  terms  of 
debates,  both  extemporaneous  and  prepared,  in  Senior  year. 
This  comprises  in  itself  a  body  of  work  fully  as  large  as 
obtained  in  the  old  days  of  "  rhetoricals  " ;  and  when  we 
consider  the  careful  emphasis  given  to  individual  drill  and 
criticism,  in  which  work  the  services  of  five  assistants  are 
employed,  we  may  well  regard  it  as  far  beyond  the  average 
of  the  old  courses  in  efficiency. 

In  the  elective  study  of  English,  each  college  year  has  its 
course  characteristic  of  the  year.  These  courses,  in  the  way 
in  which  they  supplement  each  other,  form  a  natural  sequence; 
yet  they  are  independent  of  each  other,  each  professor  being 
supreme  in  his  sphere,  to  plan,  carry  out,  and  complete,  ac- 
cording to  his  own  ideas  —  a  trio  in  which  the  members  work 
side  by  side,  in  co-operation  rather  than  in  subordination. 

The  elective  English  of  the  Sophomore  year,  under  the 


ENGLISH   AT   AMHERST   COLLEGE.  113 

charge  of  the  writer,  centres  in  written  expression,  the  study 
and  practice  of  rhetoric.  The  rhetoric  thus  pursued  —  as  the 
many  users  of  the  writer's  text-books  throughout  the  country 
need  not  be  reminded  —  is  not  the  mere  broadened  study  of 
grammar ;  it  is  a  study  of  the  organizing  of  discourse,  from 
the  choice  of  words  up,  as  a  real  author  must  seek  to  effect  it ; 
a  determinate  study,  in  however  humble  way,  of  literature  in 
the  making.  Two  terms  of  work,  based  on  the  text-book  and 
on  the  Handbook  of  Rhetorical  Analysis,  are  carried  on  by 
daily  recitations  and  written  exercises,  these  latter,  invented 
to  illustrate  in  succession  the  rhetorical  principles  under  con- 
sideration, being  progressive  in  character  and  requiring  as  they 
advance  more  originative  work  on  the  part  of  the  student. 
The  exercises  thus  become  very  nearly  equivalent  to  what  in 
other  colleges  has  been  successfully  introduced  under  the 
name  of  "  daily  themes,"  with  the  advantage  that  these 
themes,  while  no  less  vital  in  subject  matter,  are  progressive 
applications  of  literary  procedures  and  rules.  The  course  has 
too  many  interesting  and  novel  features  to  detail  here  ;  one  of 
these,  which  has  proved  very  profitable  and  interesting,  is  the 
setting  up  in  type  of  man}^  of  the  students'  written  produc- 
tions,  and  the  reading  and  criticism  of  them  in  proof. 

The  third  term  is  devoted  to  the  writing  of  essays  and 
careful  individual  criticism  of  each  one  in  personal  interviews. 
Each  man  in  the  class  presents  an  essay  about  once  a  fort- 
night. By  the  side  of  this  work  there  is  carried  on,  as  time 
and  numbers  permit,  a  course  of  reading  and  discussion  of  the 
leading  prose  writers.  Throughout  the  year,  in  connection 
with  the  rhetorical  department,  is  conducted  a  voluntary  Eng- 
lish seminary,  after  the  manner  of  the  German  universities. 

In  the  Junior  year  begin  the  elective  classes  of  Professor 
Frink.  Two  hours  a  week  in  the  first  term  are  devoted  to  the 
study  of  logic,  and  two  hours  to  a  progressive  and  systematic 
course  of  public  speaking.     The  work  of  this  foundation  term 


114  THE   TEACHING   OF   ENGLISH. 

takes  the  form  of  debates,  study  and  analysis  of  American  and 
British  orations,  and  Shakespearian  readings.  In  a  similar 
manner,  public  speaking  is  continued  through  the  second 
term,  the  debates,  discussions,  and  speeches  of  various  kinds 
having  to  do  with  the  rhetoric  of  oral  expression.  Much 
stimulus  to  these  studies  under  Professor  Frink  is  supplied  by 
the  numerous  prizes  offered  for  proficiency  in  the  work  of 
each  term.  Nor,  though  the  number  of  men  concerned  and 
the  extent  and  variety  of  the  work  would  seem  to  necessitate 
much  that  is  merely  perfunctory,  is  this  work  anything  like  a 
mere  routine.  The  industry  and  genius  of  Professor  Frink  in 
adapting  his  labors  and  interests  to  the  personal  peculiarities 
of  each  individual  precludes  that ;  and  in  the  sunshine  of  such 
friendly  relations  many  a  man  finds  powers  awakened  that  he 
had  not  suspected  in  himself,  or  powers  that  were  running 
wild  ordered  and  steadied. 

With  the  third  term  of  the  Junior  year  begins,  under 
Professor  H.  Humphrey  Neill,  the  study  of  English  literature. 
Here  the  aim  is  to  do  with  a  good  degree  of  thoroughness 
whatever  is  done ;  hence  familiarity  with  a  limited  number  of 
the  great  writers  is  sought,  rather  than  a  smattering  infor- 
mation about  many.  The  method  of  work,  as  in  the  other 
English  studies,  is  eminently  the  laboratory  method ;  and  this, 
while  based  in  just  proportion  on  facts  and  details,  is  so  aimed 
as  to  get  at  the  spirit  of  the  literature.  The  opening  term  of 
the  course  is  devoted,  in  part  through  text-books  and  in  part 
through  lectures  and  discussion  of  the  principles  of  literary 
criticism,  to  the  course  of  the  literature  down  to  the  end  of 
the  sixteenth  century  ;  special  attention  being  given  to 
Chaucer,  Spenser,  Bacon,  Milton,  and  Dryden.  Shakespeare 
is  reserved  for  a  special  term.  In  the  study  of  these,  depend- 
ence is  placed  not  so  much  on  reading  about  the  author  as  on 
familiarity  with  the  author  himself. 

With  the  beginning  of  the  Senior  year  the  students  work 


ENGLISH   AT   AMHERST   COLLEGE.  115 

more  independently.  The  first  term  is  devoted  to  the  prose 
writers  of  the  eighteenth  and  the  early  part  of  the  nineteenth 
century  ;  the  second  to  the  poets  of  the  same  period.  Two 
weeks  are  given  to  the  study  of  each  author  ;  and  on  each 
author  certain  members  of  the  class  read  extended  and  care- 
fully studied  essays.  These  essays,  in  connection  with  the 
readings  and  topics  prescribed,  are  made  the  basis  of  the  class 
discussions  and  examinations.  In  this  way  men  are  taught  to 
form  and  test  their  own  opinions.  In  the  third  term  of  Senior 
year  (the  fourth  of  the  course)  the  study  is  Shakespeare.  A 
minute  exegesis  of  one  or  two  of  the  greatest  plays  is  given 
by  means  of  lectures  and  topics  for  reading.  In  addition  to 
this,  four  other  plays  are  studied  as  a  collateral  course  by  the 
class,  and  made  the  subject  of  written  examinations.  This 
Shakespearian  course  is  open  to  all,  whether  they  have  elected 
the  three  preceding  terms  or  not. 

A  special  course  is  also  given  to  a  few  who,  in  every  class, 
having  pursued  the  course  of  the  three  prescribed  terms,  wish 
to  carry  their  literary  studies  further.  It  consists  of  special 
investigation  under  the  direction  of  the  professor,  but  with  no 
stated  recitations. 

Such,  in  a  very  meagre  outline,  is  the  course  of  English 
study  at  Amherst.  To  pass  judgment  on  it  is  for  others, 
rather  than  for  us  who  conduct  it ;  but  one  remark  by  way 
of  comparison  ought  perhaps  to  be  made.  It  does  not  seem  to 
make  a  great  showing  of  names  and  subjects  by  the  side  of 
the  minutely  subdivided  and  specialized  courses  of  some  other 
colleges  ;  but  this  fact,  I  am  convinced,  is  no  indication  of  its 
meagreness.  The  ground  is  not  only  broadly  traversed,  but 
thoroughly,  as  college  courses  go  ;  and  the  stern  weeding  out 
of  what  is  merely  speculative  and  unpractical  leaves  so  much 
the  more  time  and  energy  to  devote  to  the  ,£^reater  literary 
forms,  and  to  learn  how  close  they  are  to  th.e- requiien^pnts  of 
daily  life.  /    ^^'''  <^'^the '^' J\ 


ENGLISH   AT   THE   UNIVERSITY   OF   MICHIGAN. 

PROFESSOR   FRED   N.    SCOTT. 

EoR  the  collegiate  year  1894-95,  the  University  of  Michi- 
gan announces  twenty-one  courses  in  English  and  rhetoric. 
Ten  are  courses  in  literature,  historical  or  critical ;  five  are  in 
linguistics ;  and  six  are  in  rhetoric  and  composition.  There 
is  the  usual  division  into  courses  which  may  and  courses 
which  must  be  taken  by  those  who  intend  to  graduate,  but 
with  us  the  requirements  differ  for  the  different  degrees. 
Candidates  for  the  engineering  degrees,  and  for  the  degree  of 
Bachelor  of  Science  in  chemistry  or  biology,  are  let  off  with  a 
single  course  in  composition.  Candidates  for  the  degree  of 
Bachelor  of  Letters  must  take  two  courses  in  composition, 
besides  one  in  literature  and  one  in  linguistics.  All  others 
are  required  to  elect  two  courses  in  composition.  The  work 
is  in  charge  of  four  men :  a  professor  of  English  and  rhetoric, 
who  is  head  of  the  department ;  a  junior  professor  of  English, 
an  assistant  professor  of  rhetoric,  and  an  instructor  in  English 
composition.  In  addition  to  this,  the  regular  force,  there  are 
two  graduate  students  who  devote  a  part  of  their  time  to 
teaching  composition  or  reading  essays. 

The  number  of  students  who  elected  courses  in  English 
the  past  year,  not  allowing  for  names  counted  twice,  was 
1,198.  To  this  number  should  perhaps  be  added  110  appli- 
cants for  work  in  composition  for  whom  provision  could  not 
be  made.  The  distribution  of  the  elections  was  as  follows : 
In  modern  literature,  225;  in  Old  and  Middle  English  litera- 
ture, and  linguistics,  252 ;  in  rhetoric  and  composition,  721. 
'  116 


ENGLISH   AT   THE   UNIVERSITY   OF   MICHIGAN.      117 

In  considering  the  various  courses  in  English  it  will  be 
convenient  to  follow  the  division  I  have  used  above ;  that  is, 
into  (1)  modern  literature,  (2)  Old  and  Middle  English,  and 
linguistics,  (3)  rhetoric  and  composition.  The  first  is  the 
province  of  Professor  Demmon,  who  is  head  of  the  depart- 
ment ;  Professor  Hempl  is  in  charge  of  the  second ;  and  the 
burden  of  the  rhetoric  and  composition  work  falls  upon  the 
shoulders  of  the  instructor  (Mr.  Dawson),  the  two  assistants, 
and  myself. 

In  modern  literature,  the  department  offers  a  beginning 
course  and  three  seminary  courses,  associating  with  the  latter 
ancillary  lectures  in  criticism  and  history  of  the  drama.  The 
beginning  course,  in  charge  of  Professor  Hempl,  is  a  general 
introduction  to  the  subject.  It  is  a  three-hour  course,  running 
through  one  semester.  In  this,  a  text-book  is  used  to  furnish 
a  historical  outline,  and  very  brief  quizzes  are  given  upon  it. 
Most  of  the  time  in  class  is  taken  up  by  the  presentation  of 
reports  by  some  half-dozen  members  of  the  class  to  whom  the 
lesson  of  the  day  had  previously  been  assigned  for  special 
study  in  the  Un,iversity  library.  The  object  of  these  reports 
is  to  bring  the  student  into  direct  contact  with  the  literature, 
and  to  familiarize  him  somewhat  with  critical  methods  and 
the  leading  books  on  the  subject. 

The  seminary  courses  are  conducted  by  Professor  Demmon, 
and  aim  to  give  the  student  an  intimate  first-hand  acquaint- 
ance with  representative  masterpieces.  To  secure  admission 
to  this  advanced  work  is  somewhat  difficult,  since  at  least  five 
prescribed  courses  must  precede,  and  there  is  some  sifting 
even  of  those  who  are  technically  qualified.  Professor  Dem- 
mon offers  a  seminary  in  English  literature,  another 
American  literature,  and  a  Shakespeare  seminary.  The  pro- 
'gfamme  of  work  is  as  follows :  At  the  beginning  of  the  sem- 
ester, each  member  of  the  class  is  assigned  a  masterpiece  and 
asked  to  prepare  upon  it  a  comprehensive  biographical  and 


118  THE  TEACHING   OF   ENGLISH. 

critical  essay.  He  is  also  asked  to  present  at  some  time  dur- 
ing the  semester  a  critique  of  an  essay  by  a  fellow-member. 
As  soon  as  his  task  is  assigned,  he  begins  reading  in  the  sem- 
inary rooms  connected  with  the  library,  with  the  assistance 
of  references  prepared  by  Professor  Demmon.  If  he  is  a 
member  of  the  Shakespeare  course,  he  has  the  opportunity  of 
using  the  McMillan  Shakespeare  collection  of  3,500  volumes. 
AVhen  the  work  is  under  way,  each  section  of  the  seminary  (a 
section  containing  about  twelve  students)  meets  every  week  in 
a  two-hour  session.  The  first  hour  is  spent  in  listening  to  the 
essay  and  the  critique,  and  the  second  hour  in  an  extempo- 
raneous discussion  of  the  work  in  hand.  Each  member  is 
called  upon  in  turn,  and  says  what  the  spirit  moves  him  to 
say.  He  makes  report  upon  what  he  has  read,  or  agrees  or 
disagrees  with  the  judgments  of  the  essayist  or  the  critic,  or 
advances  individual  appreciations  of  the  work.  When  all 
opinions  have  been  aired  —  and  generally  some  little  fencing 
takes  place  over  nice  points  of  criticism  —  there  is  usually 
time  for  a  summing-up.  of  the  arguments,  and  a  discussion  of  a 
special  question  or  two,  by  the  conductor  of  the  seminary. 
Both  in  the  selection  of  masterpieces  and  the  conduct  of  the 
classes,  the  aim  is  to  supply  the  necessities  rather  than  the 
luxuries  of  literature.  For  literary  fads  and  vagaries  there  is 
neither  time  nor  inclination.  The  student  finds  in  the  semi- 
nary courses  the  best  that  English  and  American  literature 
have  to  offer.  If  he  goes  no  farther,  he  has  already  travelled 
far ;  if  he  continues  his  studies  after  leaving  the  University, 
he  will  know  at  least  the  chief  landmarks  of  the  country  he  is 
to  traverse. 

With  reference  to  the  work  in  Old  and  Middle  English, 
Professor  Hempl  has  kindly  written  out  for  me  the  following 
statement :  — 

"  My  work  may  generally  be  designated  as  linguistic ;  but 
some  of  the  undergraduate  courses  are  necessarily  only  lin- 


ENGLISH   AT  THE   UNIVERSITY   OF   MICHIGAN.      119 

guistic  in  a  simple  and  practical  way,  and  consider  also  the 
literary  side  of  what  is  read.  This  is  particularly  true  of  the 
two  courses  in  Middle  English  —  each  twice  a  week  for  half  a 
year,  the  sfecond  devoted  mostly  to  Chaucer.  There  is  also  an 
elementary  course  in  Old  English,  which,  as  well  as  the  course 
in  Early  Middle  English,  is  required  of  candidates  for  the 
degree  of  B.L. 

'^  Advanced  study  of  Old  English  is  provided  for  in  three 
courses,  each  half  a  year  :  Old  English  poetry  twice  a  week ; 
phonology  and  morphology,  three  times  a  week ;  syntax,  twice 
a  week. 

"  In  historical  English  grammar  a  general  survey  is  made 
of  the  subject,  and  the  students  are  given  some  practice  in 
methods  of  investigation  by  being  required  to  trace  in  Eng- 
lish literature  the  development  of  various  idioms,  especially 
such  as  are  often  impugned. 

"  In  alternate  years  a  course  is  offered  in  present-spoken 
English.  The  students  have  been  set  to  study  their  own 
speech  and  that  of  those  about  them,  and  have  gathered 
numerous  facts  of  interest  as  to  American  English.  But  the 
course  has  been  more  fruitful  in  opening  their  eyes  to  the 
real  state  of  so-called  "  standard  English,''  and  in  removing 
prejudice  and  establishing  a  more  reasonable  basis  of  judg- 
ment in  dealing  with  matters  of  speech  usage.  It  also  ap- 
pears that  a  quicker  and  clearer  insight  into  general  linguistic 
facts  and  principles  may  be  obtained  by  such  a  study  of  one's 
native  speech  (provided  various  forms  and  stages  of  it  be  rep- 
resented by  members  of  the  class)  than  can  be  had  from  a 
study  of  foreign  languages.  Alternating  with  this  course 
from  year  to  year  is  a  course  in  general  phonetics." 

Of  the  six  courses  which  fall  under  the  division  of  rhetoric 
and  composition,  four,  each  for  one  semester,  have  for  their 
main  object  the  cultivation  of  good  writing;  though  one  of 
the  four,  known  as  the  science  of  rhetoric,  combines  with  a 


\^ 


120  THE   TEACHING   OF   ENGLISH. 

large  amount  of  practice  a  small  amount  of  instruction  in 
theory.  In  addition  to  these,  there  are  two,  one  for  graduates 
and  one  for  undergraduates,  which  deal  with  rhetoric  in  its 
scientific  aspects.  For  the  required  Freshman  werk,  there  is 
provided  this  year  a  two-hour  course  in  paragraph-writing 
under  Mr.  Dawson  and  an  assistant.  As  in  other  large  uni- 
versities, this  part  of  the  work  presents  peculiar  difficulties. 
The  big  classes  are  about  as  heterogeneous  as  they  well  can 
be,  most  of  the  students  writing  crudely,  some  execrably,  and 
only  a  few  as  well  as  could  be  wished.  These  differences  call 
for  differences  of  treatment,  yet  it  is  impossible,  with  our 
present  teaching  force,  to  give  adequate  attention  to  individ- 
uals or  to  distinguish  grades  of  proficiency.  The  most  that 
can  be  done  is  to  put  in  a  section  by  themselves  the  engineer- 
ing students,  whose  performances  in  prose  are  often  at  the 
outset  of  a  quite  distressing  character. 

The  course  in  paragraph-writing  is  followed  by  a  two-hour 
elective  course  in  theme-writing  under  Mr.  Dawson ;  and  this 
by  a  three-hour  course,  conducted  by  myself.  The  latter  is 
required  of  all  except  the  engineers  and  candidates  for  the 
degree  of  B.S.  in  chemistry  and  biology.  It  must  be  preceded 
by  a  course  in  psychology  or  logic,  and  hence  is  usually  taken 
in  the  second  semester  of  the  Sophomore  year  or  the  first  sem- 
ester of  the  Junior  year.  An  advanced  course  in  composition 
completes  the  list  of  practical  courses.  For  those  who  wish 
to  supplement  practice  by  theory,  there  is  a  course  in  the 
principles  of  prose  style,  and  a  graduate  seminary  course  in 
which  the  evolution  of  rhetoric  is  traced  from  Aristotle  to 
the  present  time. 

It  will  appear,  I  hope,  from  this  outline,  that  the  work  in 
composition  is  intended,  first  and  foremost,  to  be  practical. 
The  aim  is  not  to  inspire  students  to  produce  pure  literature, 
if  there  be  any  such  thing,  or  even  to  help  them  to  acquire  a 
beautiful  style.     If  we  can  get  them  first  to  think  straight- 


ENGLISH    AT   THE   UNIVERSITY   OF   MICHIGAN.      121 

forwardly  about  subjects  in  which  they  are  genuinely  inter- 
ested, and  then,  after  such  fashion  as  nature  has  fitted  them 
for,  to  express  themselves  clearly  and  connectedly,  we  have 
done  about  all  we  can  hope  to  do.  Perhaps  the  other  things 
will  then  come  of  themselves.  In  trying  to  accomplish  these 
ends,  I  have  been  accustomed  in  my  own  work  to  aim  at  three 
essentials :  first,  continuity  and  regularity  of  written  exer- 
cises ;  second,  much  writing,  much  criticism,  and  much  con- 
sultation ;  third,  adaptation  of  method  to  the  needs  of  the 
individual  student.  To  secure  the  first,  the  student  is  made 
to  write  frequently  and  at  regularly  recurring  periods,  and  is 
encouraged  to  write  at  set  hours  regardless  of  mood  or  inspi- 
ration. The  second  point  I  may  be  permitted  to  illustrate  by 
saying  that  I  have  read  and  re-read  this  year  something  over 
3,000  essays,  most  of  them  written  by  a  class  of  216  students. 
The  third  essential  seems  to  me  the  most  important  of  the 
three.  That  the  instructor  should  somehow  lay  hold  of  the 
student  as  an  individual  is,  for  successful  composition  work, 
simply  indispensable.  This  was  the  secret  of  the  older  method 
of  instruction,  such  as  that  of  Edward  Channing,  described  by 
the  Rev.  E.  E.  Hale  in  My  College  Days :  — 

"You  sat  down  in  the  recitation-room,  and  were  called  man  by 
man,  or  boy  by  boy,  in  tlie  order  in  which  you  came  into  the  room  ; 
you  therefore  heard  his  criticism  on  each  of  your  predecessors.  '  Why 
do  you  write  witli  bhie  ink  on  blue  paper  ?  Wlien  I  was  young,  we 
wrote  with  black  ink  on  white  paper  ;  now  you  write  with  blue  ink  on 
blue  paper.'  'Hale,  you  do  not  mean  to  say  that  you  think  a  Grub 
Street  hack  is  the  superior  of  John  Milton  ? '  " 

I  think  all  teachers  of  composition  will  feel  that  Ned 
Channing's  method  was  good,  and  will  understand  very  well 
how  it  happened  that  Hale  and  his  seatmates  '^  came  out  with 
at  least  some  mechanical  knowledge  of  the  mechanical  method 
of  handling  the  English  language."  But  it  must  be  borne  in 
mind  that  in  the  larger  universities  the  day  of  small  and  cosey 


122  THE  TEACHING   OF  ENGLISH. 

classes  is  long  past.  Now  the  hungry  generations  tread  us 
down.  We  hardly  learn  the  names  and  faces  of  our  hundreds 
of  students  before  they  break  ranks  and  go  their  ways,  and 
then  we  must  resume  our  Sisyphaean  labors.  Is  there  no  way 
in  which  we  can  return  to  the  Arcadian  methods  of  those 
early  days  ?  For  my  part,  I  think  there  is  a  way,  and  a  very 
simple  one :  Increase  the  teaching  force  and  the  equipment 
to  the  point  where  the  instructor  can  again  meet  his  students 
as  individuals,  and  can  again  have  leisure  for  deliberate  con- 
sultation and  personal  criticism.  As  Professor  Genung  has 
well  said,  the  teaching  of  composition  is  properly  laboratory 
ivork.  If  that  is  true,  why  should  it  not  be  placed  on  the 
same  footing  as  other  laboratory  work  as  regards  manning  and 
equipment  ?  I  confess  that  I  now  and  then  cast  envious  eyes 
upon  our  laboratory  of  chemistry,  with  its  ten  instructors 
and  its  annual  expenditure  of  ten  thousand  dollars,  and  try  to 
imagine  what  might  be  done  in  a  rhetorical  laboratory  with  an 
equal  force  and  a  fraction  of  the  expenditure.  Nor  is  the 
comparison  absurd.  The  amount  of  business  which  needs  to 
be  done  in  order  to  secure  dexterity  in  the  use  of  language  is 
not  less  than  that  which  is  needed  to  secure  dexterity  in  the 
manipulation  of  chemicals.  The  student  in  composition  needs 
as  much  personal  attention  as  the  student  in  chemistry.  The 
teacher  of  composition,  if  he  is  to  do  his  work  without  loss  of 
time  and  energy,  and  if  he  is  to  secure  the  benefit  which 
comes  from  constant  variation  in  methods  of  instruction, 
needs  all  the  mechanical  helps  which  he  can  devise.  He 
needs,  for  example,  conveniences  for  the  collection,  the  distri- 
bution, and  the  preservation  of  the  written  work.  He  needs 
a  set  of  Poole's  Index,  not  in  a  far-off  library,  but  at  his 
elbow.  He  needs  a  card-catalogue,  revised  daily,  with  thou- 
sands of  subjects  of  current  interesrespecially  adapted  to  the 
uses  of  his  class.  He  needs  a  mimeograph  and  a  typewriter  j 
possibly  he  needs  a  compositor  and  a  printing-press.      Above 


ENGLISH   AT   THE   UNIVERSITY   OF   MICHIGAN.       123 

all  (and  I  do  not  mean  to  include  these  among  the  mechanical 
aids)  he  needs,  not  one  or  two,  but  a  score,  of  bright,  active, 
enthusiastic  young  assistants  to  share  his  arduous  labors  with 
him.  Under  these  Utopian  conditions  —  perhaps  not  wholly 
Utopian  after  all  —  the  teacher  of  composition  could  no  longer 
pose  as  a  martyr,  and  so  might  miss  the  sympathy  he  has 
been  so  long  accustomed  to ;  but  I  believe  that  on  the  whole 
he  would  be  a  happier  man,  and  I  am  certain  that  in  the  end 
he  would  do  a  vast  deal  more  of  good  in  the  world. 

In  running  over  the  list  of  courses  offered,  the  reader  will 
doubtless  have  noticed  that  the  department  does  not  announce 
many  which  are  exclusively  for  graduate  students.  This 
must  not  be  taken  to  imply  that  provision  for  such  students 
is  not  made.  As  a  fact,  there  is  always  a  considerable  body 
who  are  pursuing  advanced  work  in  English.  Many  go  into 
undergraduate  courses  and  there  find  what  is  suited  to  them. 
But  for  a  large  proportion  special  advanced  courses  are  ar- 
ranged, as  they  are  needed,  after  consultation  with  the  stu- 
dent. These  are  obviously  too  variable  in  character  to  be 
enumerated  here. 


ENGLISH    AT    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    NEBRASKA. 

PROFESSOR   L.    A.    SHERMAN. 

The  study  of  English  as  rhetoric  and  composition,  and  as 
English  literature  and  philology,  is  completely  differentiated 
in  the  University  of  Nebraska.  Writing  is  taught  on  the 
theory  that  constant  technical  practice  is  necessary,  but  prac- 
tice in  the  development  and  adjustment  of  meaning  in  the 
mind  as  well  as  in  appropriate  and  effective  statement.  In 
other  words,  not  facility  with  the  media  of  expression,  not 
automatism  in  phrasing  merely,  but  organic,  completed  com- 
munication, in  both  matter  and  manner,  is  the  aim  of  the 
study.  As  contributive  to  this  end,  work  in  oral  composition 
or  public  speaking  —  not  required,  but  elected  very  generally 
by  the  students  at  some  period  in  their  course  —  is  arranged 
for  and  emphasized  by  the  Department  head.  Of  fourteen 
hundred  students  in  attendance  this  year,  almost  the  entire 
number,  excepting  specials,  and  including  nearly  nine  hundred 
young  men  and  women  in  college  courses,  are  under  rhetorical 
instruction  of  some  kind.  One  professor,  two  instructors, 
and  two  assistants  are  exclusively  responsible  for  this  work. 
As  a  division  of  the  general  subject  and  of  University 
instruction,  this  department  is  known  as  the  Department  of 
English. 

The    Department    of    English    Literature,    on    the   other 
\  hand,   confines  itself  to  instruction   in  literature   proper,  in- 
cluding the  earlier  as  well  as  the  latest  forms  of   develop- 
ment, with  recognition  of  linguistic  relations  and  differences 
\^    between.     The  work  begins  in  the  second  year  of  residence, 


\ 


\ 


124 


ENGLISH   AT   THE   UNIVERSITY   OF   NEBRASKA.      125 

with  Anglo-Saxon  and  Early  English.  In  this  study  there 
are  four  exercises  a  week  throughout  the  year.  The  class  is 
drilled  daily  from  the  start  in  writing  forms,  until,  after 
reading  fifteen  or  twenty  pages  of  prose,  and  practically  mas- 
tering the  ver^-groups  and  inflections,  it  is  ready  to  begin 
poetry.  The  most  imaginative  parts  of  the  Genesis  and  the 
Exodus  are  then  used  as  an  introduction,  and  by  the  middle 
of  December  Beowulf  is  begun.  This  poem  is  studied  almost 
wholly  as  literature,  and  by  the  end  of  March  has  been  read 
to  the  extent  of  2000  lines  or  over.  By  making  the  study 
literary  and  not  philologic,  there  is  no  difficulty  in  keeping 
up  the  enthusiasm  of  the  class,  and  for  three  years  only  one 
student  has  been  dropped  from  the  roll  on  account  of  inability 
to  carry  the  work.  From  April  to  the  end  of  the  year  the 
class  reads  Middle  English,  —  generally  in  Morris's  Specimens^ 
with  such  illustration  and  appropriation"  of  historical  princi- 
ples as  can  be  gained  by  two  months'  companion  study  of 
Lounsbury's  History  of  the  E7iglish  Language.  By  this  year's 
work  the  student  gets  a  general  idea  of  the  development  of 
the  literature  and  language  to  Chaucer,  as  also  a  clear  appre- 
ciation of  the  fundamental  forms  and  modes  of  sentiment  in 
Teutonic  poetry.  Experience  has  shown  that  there  is  no 
better  introduction  to  the  general  subject,  and  many  students 
from  outside  groups,  even  including  the  scientific,  elect  the 
study.  The  enrolment  at  the  beginning  of  this  year's  work 
was  seventy,  necessitating  at  the  outset  a  division  of  the 
'class. 

The  study  of  Anglo-Saxon  and  Early  English  is  prescribed 
in  but  two  of  the  eight  groups  of  undergraduate  work.  It  is 
followed  by  a  general  survey  of  English  literary  development 
from  Chaucer  to  Tennyson,  three  exercises  a  week  through 
two  semesters.  This  subject  is  taken  by  nearly  all  the  stu- 
dents at  some  point  in  the  course,  being  required  in  six  out  of 
the    eight    groups.       Here    students   from   the    Anglo-Saxon 


126  THE   TEACHING   OF   ENGLISH. 

studies  of  the  year  preceding,  as  also  from  the  classical 
and  the  philosophical  courses,  are  put  at  work  along  with  men 
from  the  industrial  sections,  from  the  scientific,  the  agricul- 
tural, and  the  electrical  engineering  groups  of  study.  Of  the 
hundred  and  fifty  members  of  a  given  class  thus  made  up, 
more  than  two-thirds  are  without  literary  traditions  or  taste 
or  training,  or  interest  in  pure  literature  of  any  sort.  The 
theory  of  the  work  done  with  this  class  is  simply  that  students 
in  college  have  generally  as  yet  no  taste  for  the  best  liter- 
ature, no  prepared  capacity  to  appropriate  its  aesthetic  mean- 
ing, but  must  have  both  aroused  or  enabled  in  them  at  the 
start.  To  do  this  a  month  is  devoted  to  inductive  exercises 
in  discriminating  emotional  terms  and  phrases  from  prosaic, 
and  character  effects  or  hints  from  what  are  called  "  signs," 
and  in  interpreting  metres,  figures,  and  force.  It  is  stead- 
fastly believed  that  the  study  of  literature  as  literature  is 
impossible  to  minds  insensible  to  the  inner  differences  between 
prose  and  poetry,  and  blank  to  aesthetic  challenge  or  sugges- 
tion. Moreover,  experience  with  the  work  has  not  proved  the 
existence  of  minds  so  blank  or  insensible  as  not  to  yield, 
along  with  others  of  better  traditions  or  training,  to  the  influ- 
ence of  such  first  culture,  or  less  completely  and  readily 
than  they.  Students  from  the  so-called  classical  or  literary 
groups  do  not  prove  superior,  either  in  aptness  or  preparation, 
after  the  opening  and  quickening  of  the  sensibilities,  to  those 
from  the  technical  courses  of  study.  Last  year  a  University 
Browning  Club,  conceived  and  planned  wholly  from  among 
pupils  under  instruction,  was  organized  and  put  in  operation 
upon  a  permanent  basis.  But  the  young  men  and  women 
projecting  it  and  having  it  in  charge  were  from  the  scientific 
rather  than  the  literary  side  of  the  class  in  question.  Indeed, 
the  success  of  all  later  courses  in  the  department  is  found  to 
be  largely  dependent  upon  the  interest  aroused  in  the  first 
month's  study.     The  attention  of  teachers  yet  troubled  about 


ENGLISH  AT   THE  UNIVERSITY   OF   NEBRASKA.      127 

getting  their  classes  interested  in  literature  is  invited  to  the 
results  from  this  manner  of  opening  the  year.  It  must  not 
be  imagined  that  those  results  are  in  any  way  due  to  expert 
teaching,  for  the  tutor  in  charge  is  but  new  to  the  work,  not 
yet  experienced  in  handling  college  subjects.  It  is  demon- 
strated that,  with  perfected  instruction,  out  of  a  hundred 
average  students  fit  to  carry  work  above  secondary  grades, 
practically  and  positively  a  full  hundred  appreciative  and  even 
enthusiastic  readers  of  best  literature  can  be  made.  In  fact, 
results  equal  to  these  highest  have  been  reached  already  with 
certain  classes.  Moreover,  when  a  class  has  learned  to  read 
literature  as  literature,  with  true  aesthetic  discernment  of  its 
spiritual  quality,  it  will  go  forward  of  its  own  momentum. 
When  it  is  all  agog,  even  to  the  last  member,  over  Lycidas  or 
the  Adonais,  teaching  becomes  merely  guidance,  suggestion,  is 
no  longer  dogmatic  exposition  or  authority.  Each  student  will 
then  do  his  own  thinking,  and  form  —  perhaps  not  unaltera- 
bly, but  at  least  not  abnormally  —  his  own  literary  judg- 
ments. It  is  neither  just  nor  necessary  to  allow  college  credit 
for  reading  vernacular  masterpieces,  precisely  as  for  Sophocles 
or  Terence,  even  with  the  requirement  that  all  notes  be 
memorized.  The  mere  reading  should  be  taken  for  granted, 
as  also,  —  when  enabled  and  attained,  —  the  higher  experi- 
ences from  the  reading.  Credit  should  not  be  entered  upon 
the  books  of  a  college  for  such  higher  experiences,  but  only 
for  knowledge  gained  or  culture  won  at  first  hand.  But  on 
the  strength  of  interest  aroused  beforehand  the  college  pupil 
may  be  led  to  do  work  that  will  make  him  a  life-long  inter- 
preter of  aesthetic  literature,  or  at  least  save  him  from  scepti- 
cism concerning  its  pretensions. 

The  work  of  this  general  survey,  when  fairly  begun,  con- 
sists in  class  study  of  Chaucer,  Spenser,  Milton,  Shelley, 
Wordsworth,  and  Browning.  There  is  accompanying  study 
of  biographies  and  general  literary  history,  including  evolu- 


128  THE  TEACHING   OF   ENGLISH. 

tion  of  new  principles,  with  systematic  library  readings,  and 
preparation  of  notes,  in  a  hundred  representative  authors. 
No  further  work  in  this  department  is  prescribed.-  There 
are  elective  courses  in  advanced  Anglo-Saxon  and  philology, 
Browning,  Tennyson  (in  conjunction  with  systematic  criti- 
cism), American  literature.  Old  Testament  poetry,  and  theory 
of  literary  teaching.  Shakespeare  is  made  a  subject  by  itself, 
being  given  in  a  first-year  course  on  simple  principles  of 
every-day  interpretation,  in  second-year  work  of  a  more  ad- 
vanced and  systematic  character,  and  finally  in  graduate  semi- 
nary interpretation  and  research.  These  courses  are  perhaps 
the  most  popular  of  all,  and  the  elementary  or  first  year 
class  will  enroll  this  year  a  hundred  names.  There  is  also 
graduate  seminary  work  through  two  semesters  in  the  devel- 
opment of  literature,  given  this  year  in  the  evolution  and 
history  of  character  hints  in  poetry  and  fiction,  and  of  certain 
other  fundamental  modes  of  imagination.  In  all  there  are 
twenty-two  semester  courses  offered  by  the  department,  with 
an  enrolment  this  year  of  something  over  four  hundred  and 
fifty  names.  The  work  is  carried  by  one  professor,  one  tutor, 
and  an  assistant. 

The  energy  of  the  department  has  been  largely  devoted 
for  some  years  to  the  effort  of  securing  the  same  definiteness 
and  sureness  of  results  in  literature  for  all  minds  as  have 
been  reached  in  other  subjects.  Such  success  as  has  been  at- 
tained has  been  emulated  among  the  high  schools  of  our 
State,  and  to  a  degree  worthy  at  least  of  mention  here.  Sev- 
eral of  the  accredited  schools  have  begun,  at  their  own 
instance,  to  do  the  preliminary  work  of  the  survey  class,  and 
so  well  as  to  establish  their  ability  to  fit  for  college  work  in 
literature  just  as  in  Greek,  mathematics,  and  the  sciences. 
In  fact,  they  have  demonstrated  that  the  proper  place  to  open 
the  mind  to  the  inspiration  of  literature  is  in  the  secondary 
schools,  and  not  the  college.     Some  fifteen  teachers  of  Eng- 


ENGLISH   AT   THE   UNIVERSITY   OF   NEBRRASKA.    129 

lish  in  our  fifty-five  accredited  academies  and  high  schools 
will  do  the  preliminary  work  of  our  survey  course  this  year, 
and  will  do  it  essentially  as  well  as  we.  We  have  just  ar- 
ranged to  recognize  the  quality  of  the  work  by  admitting 
their  pupils  to  immediate  instruction  in  literature,  by  the  de- 
vice of  an  advanced  division,  upon  entrance.  Withal,  the 
benefit  of  such  training  to  those  students  who  never  go  up 
to  college,  but  remain  at  home  consistent  readers  of  the 
best  that  has  been  thought  and  said,  is  hardly  to  be  estimated. 

XTNIVERSITT 


ENGLISH  AT   THE   UNIVEESITY   OF 
PENNSYLVANIA. 

PROFESSOR   FELIX   F.    SCHELLING. 

There  is  a  well-known  story  in  the  Autobiography  of 
Benjamin  Franklin,  in  which  the  author  informs  us  how  he 
anticipated  the  advice  of  Dr.  Johnson  for  the  acquisition  of 
"an  English  style,  familiar,  but  not  coarse,  and  elegant,  but 
not  ostentatious,"  by  giving  "  his  days  and  nights  to  the  study 
of  Addison."  With  so  sagacious  a  recognition  of  the  value  of 
English  as  a  part  of  practical  education  from  the  founder  of 
the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  it  is  not  surprising  that  Eng- 
lish has,  from  colonial  times,  held  a  position  of  recognized  im- 
portance at  the  University ;  although  it  is  only  within  the  last 
decade  and  a  half  that  that  position  has  been  defined,  with  its 
relations  to  the  other  courses  of  the  curriculum. 

The  Department  of  English  at  the  University  of  Penn- 
sylvania, as  at  present  constituted,  is  concerned  with  four 
subjects:  (1)  composition,  (2)  English  literature,  (3)  English 
language  and  philology,  and  (4)  forensics.  Of  these,  (1)  and 
(4)  are  confined  to  undergraduates,  the  others  extend  to  grad- 
uate courses.  Whether  for  good  or  bad,  we  make  compar- 
atively little  of  forensics,  beyond  care  exercised  incidentally 
in  reading  aloud,  and  in  opportunities  offered  for  declamation 
by  students  of  the  lower  classes.  Elective  and  voluntary 
courses  in  speaking  and  debate  follow  in  Junior  year;  but  the 
chief  practice  of  our  students  in  these  subjects  is  derived  from 
the  exercises  of  their  literary  societies.  There  is  an  opinion 
prevalent  at  the  University  that  it  is  perhaps  well  that  "  elo- 

130 


ENGLISH  AT   THE  UNIVERSITY   OF  PENNSYLVANIA.     131 

cution  "  be  not  too  professionally  taught ;  but  that  the  char- 
acter of  the  individual  should  be  developed  in  his  utterance 
rather  than  overwhelmed  with  the  oratorical  mannerisms  to 
which  special  teaching  sometimes  leads. 

In  compositit)n  work  we  set  before  the  student  one  simple 
aim  —  the  plain  and  unaffected  use  of  his  mother  tongue ;  and 
we  believe  that  the  shortest  way  to  facility  of  expression  in 
writing  is  constant  practice,  and  a  practice  unaffected  and  free 
from  false  conceptions  of  the  purpose  of  such  practice.  With 
this  in  view,  every  Freshman  in  the  University  writes  two  or 
three  themes  a  week ;  Sophomores  and  Juniors,  except  those 
hoj)elessly  given  over  to  technology,  at  least  one  a  week ; 
whilst  in  Senior  year  the  subject  —  except  as  indirectly  repre- 
sented in  the  papers  of  the  seminaries  or  study-classes  in 
literature  —  remains  optional.  All  of  this  w^ork  is  carefully 
superintended  by  the  instructors  in  charge ;  every  composition 
is  read,  —  occasionally  before  the  class  or  a  section  of  it,  — 
corrected,  annotated,  if  need  be  handed  back  to  be  rewritten, 
the  faults  explained  with  the  principles  involved,  the  person- 
ality of  the  writer  studied  as  far  as  possible,  his  abilities 
trained  and  directed.  In  the  assignment  of  themes  there  is 
an  endeavor  to  avoid  subjects  which  can  be  read  up  and 
crammed  for  the  occasion,  although  the  student  is  kept  in 
continual  touch  with  good  English  style  by  required  collateral 
reading.  The  study  of  rhetoric  is  developed  out  of  the  read- 
ing and  composition  work :  and,  although  systematized  by  ref- 
erence to  a  text-book,  is  not  studied  as  a  thing  apart  from 
daily  practice. 

The  study  of  English  literature,  except  for  a  brief  esti- 
mate of  the  historical  values  of  other  products,  is  confined 
entirely  to  the  range  of  what  is  known  as  "  the  literature  of 
power; "  the  products  of  applied  literature  being  considered 
without  our  province.  English  literature  forms  a  part  of  the 
requirement  for  entrance  to  college,  and  is  involved  in  the  read- 


132  THE  TEACHING   OF  ENGLISH. 

ing  and  instruction  of  Freshman  year,  although  there  subsid- 
iary to  the  more  immediate  claims  of  the  drill  in  cojnposition. 
In  Sophomore  year  the  special  study  of  literature  begins,  con- 
tinuing until  graduation  in  periods  from  two  to  five  and  six 
hours  a  week  according  to  the  course  electfed.  I  omit  any 
enumeration  of  courses,  as  this  may  be  readily  gleaned  by  the 
curious  from  the  catalogues  and  bulletins  of  the  University. 

In  our  method  of  work  we  endeavor  to  follow  some  such 
course  as  this  :  Our  first  task  is  to  teach  the  student  to  observe 
literary  phenomena;  to  have  him  read^  never  more,  however, 
than  he  can  absorb ;  to  let  him  prove  by  written  and  oral  exer- 
cise that  he  has  read,  and  also  to  demand  from  the  first  that 
he  formulate  in  words  his  impressions  of  his  reading.  These 
impressions  are  crude  to  a  degree,  and  bear  to  his  mature  work 
precisely  the  relation  which  the  antics  he  performs  in  the 
gymnasium  bear  to  applied  physical  activity.  But  we  esteem 
it  no  small  thing  to  have  trained  a  boy  to  think  on  something 
for  himself.  The  authors  chosen  for  these  earlier  exercises 
are  those  least  distantly  removed  from  the  student's  modes  of 
daily  thought.  They  are  modern;  and  they  are  writers  in 
prose,  as  the  problem  is  greatly  simplified  by  the  elimination 
of  a  strange  or  unusual  medium,  and  the  allowances  which 
must  be  made  for  historic  environment. 

When  the  student  has  begun  to  note  literary  phenomena 
with  some  degree  of  ease,  we  direct  his  attention  to  the  rela- 
tion subsisting  between  the  various  phenomena  noted,  still 
demanding  that  he  increase  his  data  by  constant  reading  of 
literature  and  frequent  exercises  such  as  those  noted  above. 
We  are  now  prepared  for  that  orderly  exposition  of  the  rela- 
tion of  literary  phenomena  which  we  call  the  history  of  liter- 
ature. This  history  should  proceed,  as  far  as  possible,  from 
the  more  familiar  to  the  less  familiar ;  and  for  this  reason  we 
arrange  the  courses  in  the  history  of  more  recent  periods  to 
precede  such  periods  as  that  of  Chaucer  or  that  of  Shakespeare. 


ENGLISH   AT   THE   UNIVERSITY   OF   PENNSYLVANIA.     133 

We  aim  to  have  such  courses  deepen  the  impression  of  the 
student  by  a  minuter  attention  to  the  relations  of  things,  by 
seeking  out  the  beginnings  of  various  modes  of  literary  thought 
and  tracing  their  development  in  the  light  of  contemporary 
conditions.  Nor  is  this  all.  We  require  the  student  to  keep 
himself  in  daily  touch  with  the  writings  of  those  authors  that 
form  the  subject-matter  of  the  lectures,  and  to  submit  the 
results  of  his  reading  in  frequent  seminary  meetings  for 
correction  and  general  discussion  among  his  fellows.  Thus 
we  arrive  at  the  beginning  of  Senior  year  with  that  training 
in  the  perception  of  the  qualities  and  relations  of  literary  pro- 
ducts, and  that  general  knowledge  of  the  course  of  their  de- 
velopment, which  alone  can  render  the  study  of  organic  and 
aesthetic  detail  practicable.  In  Senior  year  the  whole  subject 
is  approached  again  from  these  points  of  view  in  the  study  of 
poetics,  the  history  of  criticism  and  aesthetics,  the  seminary 
or  literary  workshop,  continuing  as  in  previous  years.  We 
insist  that  all  talk  about  theories,  aesthetic,  philosophical,  or 
other,  which  the  student  may  not  investigate  for  himself  by 
actual  reference  to  the  authors  in  question,  be  banished  from 
our  work.  In  conclusion  of  the  undergraduate  work  in  Eng- 
lish literature,  we  feel  that  the  study  holds  a  peculiar  position 
from  its  capabilities  in  developing  the  taste  and  artistic  dis- 
cernment, its  liberalizing  influence  in  broadening  the  student's 
views  of  life  and  man,  its  enormous  weight  against  utilitarian- 
ism, and  its  power  in  giving  us,  when  properly  taught,  the 
very  essence  of  the  now  all  but  dethroned  humanities. 

The  philology  of  English  holds  a  recognized  and  important 
place  in  the  undergraduate  courses  of  the  Unversity  of  Penn- 
sylvania, although  we  have  not  seen  the  necessity  of  making 
the  sight  reading  of  Beowulf  a  requirement  for  entrance  to 
college,  as  some  of  our  radical  friends  would  have  it.  The 
reading  and  philological  study  of  Old  and  Middle  English, 
especially  Chaucer,  is  offered  to  undergraduates  in  the  form 


134  THE  TP: ACHING   OF   ENGLISH. 

of  elective  courses  extending  through  Junior  and  Senior  year, 
whilst  a  brief  practical  course  in  the  history  of  the  English 
language  is  a  required  study  for  all  Freshmen.  Neither  in 
literature  nor  in  philology  do  we  set  undergraduates  to  what 
"^  is  sometimes  called  in  the  English  of  catalogues  "  original 
research,"  preferring  to  devote  these  years  to  the  laying  of 
such  foundation  stones  as  we  may,  rather  than  to  the  amateur- 
ish collection  of  unimportant  literary  data  or  the  perfunctory 
compilation  of  unnecessary  indices. 

The  graduate  courses  in  English  of  the  University  of 
Pennsylvania  are  confined  to  literature  and  philology  and 
are  conducted  wholly  apart  from  the  undergraduate  work. 
Under  philology  is  included  not  only  the  philology  of  Eng- 
lish, but  the  intensive  study  of  literary  products  of  Old  and 
Middle  English,  conducted  by  means  of  lecture  and  semi- 
nary, with  carefully  superintended  original  investigation  on 
the  part  of  the  student.  In  literature  too,  while  the  subject 
is  treated  in  lectures  and  by  discussion  from  the  historical  as 
well  as  the  organic  and  aesthetic  point  of  view,  it  is  the  duty 
of  each  student  pursuing  English  as  his  major  subject  to  de- 
termine upon  some  definite  literary  period,  movement,  or 
writer,  for  special  study  and  investigation,  and  later  to  choose 
some  theme  within  the  range  of  this  special  field  for  his 
thesis.  For  specific  accounts  of  these  courses  and  their  de- 
mands upon  the  student  the  reader  must  again  be  referred  to 
the  current  Catalogue  of  the  University.  The  graduate  thesis 
in  English,  as  in  all  other  departments  of  the  University, 
must  be  submitted  to  the  Faculty  of  Philosophy,  and  upon 
acceptance  may  be  published. 


ENGLISH    AT    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    WISCONSIN. 

PROFESSOR   DAVID   B.    FRANKENBURGER. 

The  work  in  English  in  the  University  of  Wisconsin  is 
done  in  the  two  Departments,  —  Rhetoric  and  Oratory,  and 
English  Language  and  Literature.  The  combined  instructional 
force  is  two  professors,  two  assistant  professors,  and  three 
instructors,  —  seven  in  all. 

For  many  years  the  required  work  in  rhetoric  and  compo- 
sition consisted  of  one  term's  work  in  formal  rhetoric,  and  of 
weekly  rhetorical  exercises  throughout  the  course.  The 
growth  of  the  University  has  led  to  concentration.  Rhetoric 
is  now  required  twice  a  week  through  the  Freshman  and 
Sophomore  years.  There  are  eleven  courses  in  the  Department, 
nearly  all  running  longer  than  one  term.  In  the  Freshman 
year  the  aim  is  thoroughly  to  ground  the  students,  by  precept 
and  by  steady  practice,  in  the  fundamentals  of  composition ; 
the  emphasis  is  constantly  thrown  on  rhetoric  as  an  art. 
Analysis  of  themes,  paragraph  formation,  the  study  of  the 
fundamental  qualities  of  style  and  of  great  literary  types, 
with  much  practice  in  writing  both  within  and  without  the 
class-room,  —  such,  briefly  stated,  are  the  aim  and  method  of 
the  Freshman's  rhetorical  training.  Much  attention  is  paid 
to  the  mechanics  of  composition.  The  unevenness  of  the  en- 
trancej)reparation  in  English  compels  this. 

Although  rhetoric  is  now  required  in  our  accredited  high 
schools,  still  the  preparation  is  very  inadequate.  In  some  of 
the  schools  the  study  is  merely  formal,  not  looking  to  the 
production  of  anything;  usually  too  much  work  is  required 

135 


136  THE  TEACHING   OF   ENGLISH. 

of  the  instructor,  and  not  seldom  the  work  is  assigned  to 
those  teachers  who  have  little  or  no  special  preparation  for  it ; 
helpful  criticism  is  therefore  rare.  The  course  in  English 
composition  as  laid  down  in  the  catalogue  of  the  schools  is 
seldom  carried  out  even  in  the  letter. 

With  our  Freshmen,  all  written  work  is  inspected ;  most 
of  it  is  carefully  criticised,  and  much  of  it  is  rewritten.  We 
try  to  lighten  the  burden  of  criticism  somewhat  by  massing 
the  faults,  and  then  treating  them  before  the  class.  Typically 
defective  essays  are  type-written,  reproduced  on  the  mimeo- 
graph, and  criticised  in  the  class-room.  Some  of  the  faults 
common  to  beginners  arise  from  ignorance,  or  carelessness,  or 
general  inexperience,  while  some  are  due  to  lack  of  culture 
and  of  mental  training.  Persistent  criticism  may  profitably 
be  applied  to  the  former  group  of  faults,  while  a  kindly 
patience  may  often  note  the  disappearance  of  the  latter  group. 
The  division  may  not  be  exact,  yet  it  holds  true  that  some- 
thing may  be  left  to  the  general  development  of  the  student. 
Over-criticism  is  as  bad  as  under-criticism  or  no  criticism. 
Facility  in  expression  may,  at  times  in  the  student's  course, 
count  for  more  than  mere  conformity  to  rhetorical  principle. 
Criticism  that  freezes  the  currents  of  invention  is  always  of 
doubtful  utility.  It  is  apt  to  lead  to  mere  perfunctory  work, 
just  as  no  criticism  leads  to  such  work ;  and  perfunctory 
work  is  the  bane  of  the  rhetorical  class-room. 

In  the  Sophomore  year  the  essay-writing  is  continued. 
The  application  of  the  principles  of  the  paragraph  are  more 
strongly  insisted  upon;  the  great  problems  in  expression  are 
pushed  to  the  front.  The  writing  of  essays  in  description, 
narration,  argumentation,  and  exposition  proceeds  with  the 
study  of  brief  extracts  of  literary  masterpieces.  Milton  and 
Macaulay,  Addison  and  DeQuincey,  Ruskin  and  Huxley,  are 
critically  studied  for  diction,  adaptation,  and  mastery  of  ma- 
terials.    The  great  webs  are  pulled  just  enough  apart  that  the 


ENGLISH   AT   THE   UNIVEKSITY   OF   WISCONSIN.      137 

student  may  see  with  what  pains  and  skill  the  weaving  has 
been  done.  We  aim  not  at  the  production  of  literature,  but 
in  some  little  degree  to  arouse  and  cultivate  the  literary 
spirit;  not  that  spirit  that  simply  enjoys  literature,  feeling 
what  is  good,  but  the  artist  spirit  that  rejoices  in  creation,  in 
the  perfect  embodiment  of  an  idea,  —  the  critical  spirit  as 
Matthew  Arnold  understood  the  term.  At  this  stage  of  the 
work,  the  criticism  of  essays  is  largely  personal.  Many  of 
the  essays  are  read  before  the  class.  The  other  influences 
in  the  University  that  help  the  Freshmen  and  Sophomores  to 
the  attainment  of  some  degree  of  proficiency  in  English  com- 
position, I  shall  speak  of  later. 

The  required  work  in  rhetoric  ends  with  the  Sophomore 
year.  The  advanced  courses  in  rhetoric,  as  well  as  the 
courses  in  elocution,  are  optional.  The  principal  advanced 
course  in  rhetoric  is  given  three  times  a  week  throughout  the 
year,  and  is  open  to  those  students  who  have  completed  the 
required  work.  The  method  of  instruction  is  by  text-book 
and  lectures,  and  by  wide  auxiliary  reading.  The  aim  is  to 
cultivate  the  literary  taste.  Minto's  Manual  and  Lessing's 
Essays  on  Criticism  are  read  by  the  class.  The  text-book 
furnishes  material  for  lectures  or  talks  by  the  students. 
Orations,  speeches,  and  debates  are  delivered  before  the  class, 
then  carefully  written  out  and  criticised.  Essays  of  the 
Freshmen  or  of  the  Sophomores  are  corrected  by  members  of 
this  advanced  class,  who  then  look  over  the  corrected  work 
with  the  instructor. 

The  above  work  in  English  is  done  in  the  academical 
courses.  In  the  College  of  Engineering,  the  Freshmen  are 
required  to  take  rhetoric  and  composition  three  times  a  week 
during  the  year.  The  work  is  similar  to  that  required  of  the 
Freshmen  in  the  literary  courses,  except  that  special  stress  is 
laid  upon  scientific  and  technical  description  and  exposition. 
This  is  further  carried  out  in  an  elective  course  in  the  same  De- 


\\ 


138  THE  TEACHING  OF   ENGLISH. 

partments,  open  only  to  engineering  students,  where  the  train- 
ing is  purely  practical,  intended  to  aid  the  student  clearly  to 
express  himself  on  scientific  and  professional  subjects. 

An  article  on  English  at  the  University  of  Wisconsin 
would  be  incomplete  that  did  not  give  some  account  of  the 
work  of  the  literary  societies.  They  form  a  great  practice 
department  in  English  composition  and  elocution.  The  work 
is  so  certain,  and  so  uniform  in  quality,  that  it  may  be 
looked  upon  as  part,  and  not  an  unimportant  part  either,  of 
the  students'  training.  Freshmen  and  Sophomores,  while 
carrying  on  the  work  in  English  composition  in  the  class-room, 
are  listening  to  or  engaging  in  weekly  debates  in  the  society 
halls.  There  are  in  all  eight  general  literary  societies ;  and 
in  all  of  them,  I  believe,  essay  writing  and  oration  writing  is 
subsidiary  to  debating.  The  competition  runs  high  even 
within  the  societies.  The  Sophomores  of  each  society  hold 
annually  a  public  exhibition ;  those  who  appear  are  chosen 
for  the  excellence  of  their  work  in  the  society.  The  most 
important  literary  event  of  the  college  year,  not  excepting 
commencement,  is  the  joint  debate  between  two  of  the  several 
literary  societies  that  constitute  the  Joint  Debate  League. 
The  joint  debaters  are  usually  chosen  from  those  who  have 
made  a  good  record  in  the  Sophomore  public  debate.  No 
labor  or  expense  is  spared  in  preparation. 

The  relation  of  the  Department  of  Khetoric  and  Oratory  to 
the  other  Departments  of  a  college  or  university  is  peculiar. 
It  should  be  in  close  alliance  with  them  ;  a  sharp  insistence 
by  all  Departments  upon  correctness  in  the  composition  of 
themes  and  topics,  and  upon  correct  pronunciation  and  correct 
speech  in  the  recitation  room,  would  add  greatly  to  the 
efficiency  of  the  English  Department.  A  graduate's  English 
should  be  the  result  of  all  university  work ;  and  by  English  I 
mean  both  spoken  and  written  English. 

The   Department   of    English    Language   and    Literature 


ENGLISH   AT   THE   UNIVERSITY   OF   WISCONSIN.      139 

offers  twenty-one  courses  ;  a  few  of  these  are  given  only  every 
second  year.  Anglo-Saxon  and  Middle  English  as  an  intro- 
duction to  the  historical  study  of  English  are  required  of 
students  in  the  English  course.  This  is  followed  by  an  elec- 
tive course  in  Anglo-Saxon  poetry  and  a  survey  of  Anglo- 
Saxon  literature,  and  this  by  a  course  in  Beowulf  as  an 
introduction  to  the  study  of  Old  Germanic  life.  A  general 
course  in  the  history  of  the  English  language  is  given  every 
second  year.  A  general  survey  of  English  literature  is  a  pre- 
requisite to  all  other  courses  in  English  literature,  and  is 
required  of  the  Sophomores  in  the  English  course.  All  other 
courses  in  the  Department  are  elective. 

The  method  of  instruction  is  scientific.  Little  attention 
is  paid  to  text-books ;  the  works  under  consideration  are 
studied,  commented  upon,  and  interpreted.  Long  lines  of 
reading  are  assigned,  and  the  results  are  embodied  in  a  paper 
which  is  read  and  discussed  before  the  class.  In  the  literature 
seminary  meeting,  once  a  week  for  two  hours,  the  general 
principles  of  literary  criticism  are  expounded  and  applied. 

The  scope  of  instruction  in  the  Department  is  sufficiently 
broad.  After  the  general  survey  required  for  entrance  upon 
the  elective  courses,  the  students  may  study  the  history  of 
literature  of  the  fourteenth  century,  the  literature  of  the 
Elizabethan  period,  the  literature  of  the  eighteenth  century 
with  special  reference  to  the  social  and  intellectual  life  of  the 
period,  the  English  romantic  movement,  and  the  Victorian 
era.  There  is  a  group  of  courses  on  the  drama,  beginning 
with  the  ancient  classical  drama  in  translation,  going  to  the 
history  of  the  English  drama,  and  the  interpretative  readings 
of  selected  plays  of  Shakespeare,  with  themes  and  discussion. 
Epic  poetry  is  studied  in  translations  of  Virgil,  Homer,  and 
Dante,  leading  to  the  great  English  lyric  poets.  The  devel- 
opment of  the  novel  and  the  development  of  English  prose 
are  each  given  a  place.     The  English  essayists,  from  Dryden 


140  THE  TEACHING   01^  ENGLISH. 

J]  '/ 

to  the  present  day,  are  followed  by  the  English  and  American 
prose  masterpieces,  and  those  by  the'  English  literary  semi- 
nary on  the  history  and  theory  of  literary  criticism ;  the  sub- 
ject for  study  in  the  seminary  for  the  present  year  is  Robert 
,  Browning.  The  courses  in  English  literature  are,  I  think,  the 
I  \  most  popular  courses  in  the  University. 


ENGLISH   AT   WELLESLEY   COLLEGE. 

PROFESSOR   KATHARINE   LEE    BATES. 

Is  it  not  time  that  somebody  moved  a  vote  of  thanks  to 
The  Dial  ?  Surely  the  present  discussion,  with  the  procession 
of  professorial  testimonies  marshalled  by  editorials  and  accom- 
panied by  a  brisk  run  of  letters,  is  rendering  to  teachers  of 
English  throughout  the  country  a  service  beyond  compute. 
Among  the  happy  results  of  the  discussion  must  be  counted 
this :  that  more  than  one  lonely  stickler  for  the  supremacy, 
even  in  the  class-room,  of  literature  as  an  art  has  discovered, 
like  Elijah  of  old,  that  the  faith  has  no  lack  of  prophets. 
Professor  Corson,  for  instance,  has  seemed,  at  times  not  far 
remote,  to  stand  almost  alone  in  his  insistent  proclamation 
that  the  appeal  of  literature  is  not  exclusively  to  the  intellect, 
but  to  the  threefold  spirit.  Yet  the  aim  at  Cornell  cannot 
easily  go  beyond  the  purpose  at  Yale,  as  voiced  by  Professor 
Cook  in  the  opening  article  of  the  series,  to  promote  "the 
acquisition  of  insight  and  power,  taking  these  terms  in  the 
broadest  sense,  so  as  to  include  the  emotional  and  aesthetic 
faculties  as  well  as  the  purely  intellectual,  the  will  and  the 
moral  nature  no  less  than  the  reason."  But  Yale,  pleading 
for  English  as  ''an  unsurpassed  aliment  of  the  spiritual  life," 
and  ''a  most  effective  instrument  of  spiritual  discipline," 
hardly  outvoices  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  valuing  the 
study  of  English  literature  for  ''  its  enormous  weight  against 
utilitarianism,"  or  of  Chicago,  claiming  that  "  literary  master- 
pieces should  be  studied  chiefly  for  their  beauty."  Truly  The 
Dial  is   marking  a  new   hour.     America^  iihrowing.^  the 

141  ^-^t^^^^^ertr^^^ 

tjniversitT} 


142  THE   TEACHING   OF    ENGLISH. 

tyranny  of  the  German  method,  in  which,  nevertheless,  her 
leading  professors  of  English  have  been  trained,  and  facing 
the  disapproval  of  gray-towered  Oxford,  which,  at  the  present 
writing,  has  two  men  enrolled  as  candidates  for  its  brand-new 
English  school,  is  still  the  land  of  the  free  and  the  home  of 
the  brave.  But  if  freedom  is  to  be  preserved  from  anarchy, 
and  bravery  vindicated  from  the  charge  of  headlong  folly, 
teachers  of  English  have  yet  to  find  a  general  method  propor- 
tioned to  their  aim.  Enthusiasts,  it  is  true,  decry  that  soul- 
less substantive,  method.  "When  a  teacher  begins  to  cast 
about  for  a  method,"  writes  a  member  of  the  English  Faculty 
of  Chicago,  "  he  is  already  lost."  And  yet  Thomas  the  Ehymer 
saw,  between  the  paths  to  heaven  and  hell,  a  path  to  fairy- 
land.    May  there  not  be 

"  a  bonny  road 
That  winds  about  the  ferny  brae," 

which  teachers  of  literature,  who  would  fain  awaken  their 
students  to  the  beautiful,  may  seek  for  unashamed  ? 

Indeed,  we  need  a  road.  It  is  very  well  for  the  editors 
and  contributors  of  The  Dial  to  claim  on  behalf  of  students 
the  delights  of  the  "  spiritual  glow"  etherealized  beyond  the 
dull  concern  for  "the  historical  and  adventitious,"  and  to 
demand  that  the  professor  add  to  the  most  gracious  gifts  of 
nature  a  culture  deep  as  a  well  and  considerably  wider  than  a 
church-door, — but  by  what  process,  after  all,  shall  the  essen- 
tial values  of  literature  be  impressed  ?  Let  the  new  day  dawn. 
Let  the  student's  lifted  head,  cleared  from  all  suspicion  of  an 
ache,  be  haloed  with  golden  lights.  Let  the  ideal  professor 
guide  him  to  the  heart  of  poetry,  of  humanity,  and  the  divine ; 
but  how  is  such  supernal  guidance  to  be  effected  ? 

"  He  shall  have  chariots  easier  than  air, 
That  I  will  have  invented;  and  ne'er  think 
He  shall  pay  any  ransom ;  and  thyself, 


ENGLISH   AT   WELLESLEY  COLLEGE.  143 

That  art  the  messenger,  shalt  ride  before  him 
On  a  horse  cut  out  of  an  entire  diamond, 
That  shall  be  made  to  go  with  golden  wheels, 
I  know  not  how  yet.'''' 

Nothing,  then,  could  be  more  practically  helpful,  at  this 
stage  of  the  experiment,  than  these  descriptions  of  English 
courses  now  pursued  in  American  colleges,  especially  where 
the  professors  in  charge  are  committed  to  the  literary  aim. 
Upon  this  accumulated  material  of  experience,  theory  will 
soon  be  at  work.  The  Dial  has  already  given  judgment  in 
favor  of  dividing  English,  as  a  university  subject,  into  the 
science  of  linguistics  and  the  art  of  literature.  From  the 
various  reports,  however,  it  would  appear  that  composition 
and  rhetoric,  elocution,  and  comparative  literature,  must  also 
be  taken  into  account  as  candidates  for  separate  departments. 

At  Wellesley  the  subject  of  elocution  stands  alone,  and  we 
have  at  present  —  more's  the  pity  —  no  department  of  ^^  lit- 
erature at  large."  Term  courses  in  English  translations  of 
Homer  and  Dante,  with  less  extended  study  of  the  Cid,  the 
Song  of  Roland,  the  Nibelungen  Lied,  and  the  Volsunga  Saga, 
were  originally  offered  in  the  English  Literature  Department. 
A  few  years  since,  this  Department,  stricken  with  humility, 
handed  the  responsibility  on  to  the  professors  of  Greek  and 
German  and  the  Romance  tongues,  who  undertook  a  composite 
course  of  English  lectures  upon  the  classic  and  mediaeval 
epics.  This  arrangement  proved  unwieldy,  and  fell,  like 
Poland,  for  lack  of  a  central  control.  The  Romance  Depart- 
ment offers  English  courses  in  Dante  and  in  the  French  epics 
of  the  Middle  Ages ;  but  for  a  comprehensive  survey  of  the 
Aryan  literatures  in  their  development  and  relations,  Welles- 
ley  has  still  to  wait. 

Anglo-Saxon  is  taught  in  the  Department  of  English  Lan- 
guage and  Rhetoric ;  and  also  by  Dr.  Helen  L.  Webster,  in 
the  Department  of  Comparative  Philology.    Three,  at  least,  of 


144  THE  TEACHING   OF   ENGLISH. 

our  English  faculty  are  eager  to  offer  Anglo-Saxon  courses; 
I  and  this  year  Wellesley,  like  Yale,  has  three  under-graduates 
electing  Anglo-Saxon.     In  connection  with  the  testimony  from 
various  universities  —  Illinois,  for  example  —  as  to  the  dis- 
favor with  which  English  students  regard  linguistics,  and  in 
light  of  the  experience  of  the  University  of  Nebraska,  which 
has  succeeded,  by  emphasizing  the  literary  side  of  the  study, 
in  making  courses  in  Anglo-Saxon  and  Middle  English  popu- 
lar, questions  press  for  discussion.     Is  this  artful  dodging  of 
Anglo-Saxon  to  the  discredit  of  the  artful  dodger  ?      Should 
Anglo-Saxon  be  made  a  required  subject  in  the  English  group  ? 
Should  it  be  taught  with  full  linguistic  severity,  as  valuable 
I  mental  discipline,  or  should  the  teaching  be  suited  to  the 
!  tastes  and  aims  of   literary  students  ?     What  is  the  decent 
j  minimum  of  philology  ?     And  should  the  Anglo-Saxon  course 
'  precede  or  follow  the  treatment  of  the  more  modern  litera- 
ture? 

In  the  Department  of  English  Literature  at  Wellesley,  no 
critical  courses  are  offered  on  material  prior  to  1300;  and, 
from  Langland  to  Browning,  the  language  is  taught  solely  as 
a  means  to  an  end.  The  forty  students  electing  fourteenth 
century  work  this  year,  for  instance,  will  study  the  East  Mid- 
land dialect  for  the  sake  of  Chaucer's  poetry,  not  the  poetry 
for  the  sake  of  the  dialect. 

The  Professor  of  English  Language  and  Rhetoric,  Miss 
Margaret  E.  Stratton  of  Oberlin,  finds  time  for  some  linguis- 
tic work,  but  the  rhetorical  side  of  her  department  secures 
the  lion's  share  of  attention.  Professor  Scott's  longed-for 
Utopia  is  not  located  at  Wellesley.  Frequent  themes  are  re- 
quired of  Freshmen,  Sophomores,  and  Juniors,  these  classes 
numbering,  in  the  aggregate,  about  six  hundred.  Moreover, 
here,  as  at  Stanford  and  Indiana,  classes  of  conditioned  Fresh- 
men are  a  conspicuous  feature  of  the  Rhetoric  Department, 
the  training  of  the  secondary  schools  being  grievously  inade- 


ENGLISH    AT   WELLESLEY   COLLEGE.  145 

quate.  Miss  Hart  of  E-adcliffe,  and  Miss  Weaver,  trained  in 
England  as  well  as  in  America,  bend  their  united  energies  to 
developing  in  the  Freshmen  the  ability  to  write  clear,  correct, 
well-constructed  English  sentences.  To  have  mastered  the 
paragraph  is  to  become,  so  far  as  the  Rhetoric  Department  is 
concerned,  a  Sophomore ;  and  to  proceed,  under  guidance  of 
Miss  Willcox,  whose  preparation  was  in  part  received  in  an 
editorial  office,  to  the  structure  of  the  essay.  This  involves, 
together  with  the  analysis  of  masterpieces  and  the  making  of 
outlines,  various  studies  in  the  orderly  and  effective  arrange- 
ment of  material.  Subjects  may  be  drawn  from  any  course 
of  study  in  which  the  student  is  interested,  and  some  slight 
opportunity  is  afforded  for  experiments  in  story-telling.  With 
the  second  semester  comes,  to  able  students,  the  chance  of 
electing,  in  place  of  the  regular  work,  a  course  in  journalism. 
This  undertakes  the  gathering  up  and  editing  of  news  from 
far  and  near,  the  condensing  and  recasting  of  "copy,"  the 
writing  of  book  reviews  and  editorials.  A  newspaper  staif 
is  organized,  the  members  rotating  in  office,  and  from  time  to 
time  the  class  is  addressed  by  working  journalists.  The 
Wellesley  Magazine  furnishes  an  immediate  field  for  such 
youthful  activities ;  while,  for  better  or  worse,  the  calls  from 
newspapers,  the  Union  over,  for  student  reporters  of  college 
life  grow  more  numerous  with  every  autumn. 

The  Junior  year  brings  the  course  in  argumentation,  which, 
making  as  it  does  for  logical  thinking,  is  speedily  felt  in  every 
line  of  college  work.  This  course,  conducted  by  Mr.  George 
P.  Baker  of  Harvard,  and  similar  to  the  forensic  course  given 
by  him  in  that  university,  is  described  in  Professor  Wendell's 
foregoing  paper.  Mr.  Baker  offers,  too,  an  elective  course  in 
debate.  The  crowded  Senior  elective,  however,  is  the  daily 
theme  course,  conducted  by  Miss  Weaver.  The  purpose  of 
this  elective  is  to  quicken  observation  and  give  as  much  prac- 
tice as  possible  in  the  sifting  and  grouping  facts  of  personal 


146  THE   TEACHING   OF   ENGLISH. 

experience,  and  in  the  clear,  concise,  and  cogent  statement  of 
whatever  there  may  be  under  a  Senior  cap  to  state. 

These  various  instructors  are  united  in  the  persuasion  that 
the  laws  of  rhetoric  should  be  assimilated,  so  far  as  may  be, 
by  an  informal  and  almost  unconscious  process,  and  that  there 
should  be  no  unholy  divorce  between  the  English  of  the  pen 
and  the  English  of  the  lip.  They  stand  for  graded  and  orderly 
advance,  for  the  development  of  the  perceptive  and  inventive 
powers,  as  well  as  of  taste  and  reason,  and,  in  general,  for  a 
fuller  experience  and  more  accurate  expression  of  life.  It  is 
unfortunate  that  they  are  themselves  mortal,  and  have  thus 
far  been  unable  to  accede  to  the  desire  of  the  other  Depart- 
ments that  all  students  whose  technical  themes  and  examina- 
tion papers,  while  good  in  substance  are  bad  in  statement, 
shall  be  conditioned  in  English  and  turned  over  to  the  Kheto- 
ric  Department  for  reformation. 

The  limits  of  my  space  necessitate  brief  mention  of  the 
work  in  English  Literature.  In  this  subject  there  is  no  re- 
quirement. It  is  elected  this  year  by  more  than  half  the 
undergraduates,  while  some  ten  or  twelve  graduate  students 
pursue  courses  in  residence,  and  others  are  working  at  a  dis- 
tance by  correspondence.  The  corps  of  instruction  consists, 
in  addition  to  myself,  of  Miss  Vida  D.  Scudder,  associate  pro- 
fessor, and  three  instructors,  Miss  Jewett,  Miss  Sherwood,  and 
Miss  Eastman.  Vassar,  Smith,  and  Wellesley  are  our  nursing 
mothers,  although  Oxford,  Florence,  and  Berlin  have  some- 
what tempered  our  original  mood.  Miss  Scudder's  especial 
interest  is  in  nineteenth  century  literature.  Miss  Jewett's  in 
Spenser  and  in  lyric  poetry.  Miss  Sherwood's  in  the  analysis 
of  prose,  and  my  own  in  drama.  Miss  Eastman  is  bowed  be- 
neath the  weight  of  the  introductory  course,  —  such  a  pre- 
requisite as  is  given  at  California  and  Wisconsin,  —  presenting 
a  bird's-eye  view  of  the  field  of  English  literature.  This  ac- 
complished, the  student  is  advised  to  elect  one  of  three  courses 


ENGLISH    AT   WELLESLEY   COLLEGE.  147 

which  have  for  their  peculiar  end  and  aim  the  cultivation  of 
the  literary  sense.  These  courses  draw  their  material  from 
the  pre- Victorian  prose,  and  from  the  early  poetry,  epic,  and 
lyric,  the  emphasis  in  one  of  the  poetical  courses  being  put  on 
Spenser,  and  in  the  other  on  Milton.  The  student's  third 
choice  is  made  from  a  group  of  courses  dealing  with  the  litera- 
ture of  various  great  epochs :  a  fourteenth  century  course,  a 
Shakespeare  course,  and  nineteenth  century  courses.  But  to 
the  student  who  proposes  at  the  outset  to  specialize  in  English 
we  recommend  a  different  sequence  :  a  course  in  Anglo-Saxon 
for  the  Freshman  year,  followed  in  turn  by  the  Chaucer  course, 
the  Shakespeare  course,  and  a  course  either  in  Georgian  and 
Victorian  poetry,  or  in  Victorian  prose,  with  a  concluding 
course  in  the  development  of  English  literature.  There  are 
one-hour  lecture  courses,  alternating,  year  by  year,  in  Ameri- 
can literature  and  in  poetics.  Miss  Scudder  conducts  a  semi- 
nary in  Wordsworth,  or  Shelley,  or  Browning,  as  the  spirit 
moves ;  while  my  own  seminary  deals  with  some  period  of 
the  English  drama.  No  text-books  are  used  in  any  of  our 
class-rooms  save  editions  of  the  masterpieces  under  considera- 
tion, and  save  such  innocuous  pamphlets  —  outlines  of  the 
courses,  with  bibliography  —  as  we  individually  prepare  for 
our  own  classes.  For  a  young  college,  Wellesley  is  exception- 
ally fortunate  in  her  library,  and  the  students  of  literature  and 
history  flock  to  it  as  flies  to  honey.  Informal  addresses  by 
one  or  another  member  of  the  force  are  fortnightly  given  be- 
fore the  students  of  the  department  on  current  topics  of  liter- 
ary note;  and  frequently  an  unwary  poet  strays  into  our 
parlor,  or  a  famous  scholar  mounts  our  lecture-platform.  The 
literary  societies  of  the  college  further  the  aim  we  have  in 
view ;  and,  in  general,  the  responsiveness  and  earnestness  of 
our  students  are  such  as  often  to  shame  our  own  inadequacy. 

"  The  hungry  sheep  look  up  and  are  not  fed." 


148  THE  TEACHING   OF   ENGLISH. 

We  do  what  we  can,  but  are  beset  by  many  puzzles.  What  is 
the  function  of  the  lecture  in  the  teaching  of  literature  ?  At 
what  point  in  her  career  shall  the  susceptible  undergraduate 
encounter  the  standard  critic  ?  Can  a  student  be  conditioned 
on  coldness  of  heart  and  on  native  apathy  in  the  presence  of 
beauty  ?  But  our  chief  problem  is  the  crucial  one  of  the 
modern  experiment.  If,  indeed,  as  was  claimed  by  a  con- 
tributor to  School  and  College  two  or  three  years  ago,  the 
constituents  of  a  sound  education  are  character,  culture,  in- 
sight, and  the  disciplined  working  power  of  the  brain,  can  the 
study  of  literature  be  made  to  promote  the  final  end  as  effect- 
ively as  it  certainly  subserves  the  other  three  ? 


r 


ENGLISH  AT  THE  JOHKS  HOPKINS  UNIVERSITY. 

PROFESSOR   JAMES   W.    BRIGHT. 

The  courses  in  English  at  the  Johns  Hopkins  University 
are  conducted  by  James  W.  Bright,  professor  of  English 
philology ;  William  Hand  Browne,  professor  of  English  litera- 
ture ;  and  Herbert  Eveleth  Greene,  collegiate  professor  of 
English.     These  courses  may  be  grouped  as  follows  :  — 

(1)  Graduate  (or  university)  courses  (conducted  chiefly 
by  Professor  Bright). 

Graduate  studies  leading  to  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Phi- 
losophy occupy  a  student  for  three  or  more  years.  With  Eng- 
lish as  his  "principal  subject "  the  student  will  usually  elect 
as  the  two  required  "  subordinate  subjects "  German  and 
French ;  or  German  (or  French)  and  European  history  (or 
the  history  of  philosophy ;  or  Latin,  Greek,  or  Sanskrit). 
English,  in  its  turn,  may  also  be  elected  either  as  a  first  or 
as  a  second  "  subordinate  subject." 

It  would  be  difficult  to  give  a  detailed  account  of  what  an 
advanced  course  in  English  embraces.  The  lectures  and  exer- 
cises of  no  two  years,  whether  successive  or  separated  by  an 
interval,  have  hitherto  been  the  same ;  nor  could  the  work  of 
any  two  students,  of  those  who  have  completed  the  course,  be 
properly  regarded  as  identical  except  in  a  somewhat  liberal 
sense.  But  a  few  general  remarks  may  be  made  descriptive 
of  the  scope  and  purpose  of  the  work  and  of  the  methods  em- 
ployed in  it. 

As  to  scope,  purpose,  and  method,  the  plan  of  the  work  is 
in  accord  with  that  of  advanced  courses  in  other  scientific  and 

149 


150  THE  TEACHING  OP  ENGLISH. 

historical  subjects.  It  is  assumed  that  the  student  is  fitted 
by  previous  training  and  by  disposition  of  mind  to  become  a 
scholar.  He  is  required  to  have  a  reading  knowledge  of 
German  and  French,  so  that  no  important  portion  of  technical 
apparatus  may  be  unavailable  for  use  at  first  hand.  His  more 
technical  introduction  to  English  will  now  be  through  the 
early  forms  of  the  language  and  its  literature.  Initial  courses 
in  Anglo-Saxon  and  Middle  English  will  prepare  him  for 
special  work  in  all  periods  of  the  language,  and  after  a  course 
in  Gothic  (a  course  given  in  the  German  department  each 
year)  he  will  be  able  to  extend  his  studies  into  Germanic 
conditions,  and  thence  to  pass,  with  more  or  less  clearness, 
to  an  apprehension  of  the  ultimate  Indo-European  afiinities 
of  English.  As  a  member  of  the  English  seminary  he  will 
take  part  in  prolonged  and  minute  investigation  of  literary 
epochs,  and  of  significant  works  of  literature.  He  will  re- 
ceive training  in  the  historical  and  comparative  study  of  both 
the  literature  and  the  language,  and  he  will  have  practice  in 
presenting  his  own  judgments  and  in  reporting  the  results  of 
his  investigations. 

Concurrently  with  the  work  of  the  seminary  there  are 
given  courses  of  lectures  on  philology  and  on  literature.  The 
lectures  on  philology  deal  technically  with  the  history  of  Eng- 
lish from  its  Indo-European  origin  to  its  present  form ;  the 
lectures  on  literature  are  designed,  on  the  one  hand,  to  sup- 
plement directly  the  work  of  the  Seminary  (Professor  Bright), 
and  on  the  other  hand  to  supply  complete  treatment  of  the  lit- 
erature from  Shakespeare  to  the  present  (Professor  Browne). 
There  is  also  a  recurrence  of  lectures  and  conferences  on 
Phonetics,  the  history  of  verse-forms,  syntax,  foreign  ele- 
ments in  English,  and  allied  subjects.  Classes  are  also  con- 
ducted in  the  interpretation  of  texts,  and  in  textual  and 
aesthetic  criticism. 

The  members  of  the  seminary  meet  regularly  as  a  Jour- 


CFTHE      "'^    >v 

xjniversitt) 

ENGLISH   AT   THE   JOHNS   HbP^fcyFgSSSt^&fW^Y.     151 


r. 


nal  Club,  for  reports  on  the  current  journals  relating  to 
English,  for  reviews  of  new  books,  and  for  presentation  and 
discussion  of  miscellaneous  papers. 

YoT  an  account  of  the  advanced  course  in  rhetoric,  see 
(3)  below. 

The  collegiate  instruction  in  English  consists  of  that  which 
is  given  to  all  undergraduates,  and  that  which  is  followed  by 
those  who  devote  their  attention  more  especially  to  the  modern 
languages  (Group  vii).  Professors  Browne  and  Greene  have 
kindly  supplied  the  folloAving  accounts  of  these  two  depart- 
ments. 

(2)  Collegiate  Courses  :  Group   vii    (conducted   chiefly   by      ^ 
Professor  Browne).  A./^''""^-  '^ 


^^The  more  especial  instruction  in  English  combines  ele-    /fj  J 
mentary  philological  with  literary  study.       The  English   of 
the  first  year  in  this  group  (called  the  '  minor  course ')  con- 
sists, in  part,  of  selections  from  Early  English  texts  (taken  in  : 
inverse  chronological  order,  beginning  with  the  fourteenth  and 
going  back  to  the  twelfth  century),  at  once  serving  as  an  easy  \ 
prodromus  to  the  study  of  Anglo-Saxon,  and  acquainting  the 
student  with  an  interesting  and  instructive  part  of  our  litera- 
ture.    The  instruction  supplements  the  reading  of  the  texts 
by  the  needful  elucidations,  historical  and  other.     An  equal 
amount  of  time  is  also  given  by  this  class  to  the  history  of 
English  literature ;  the  Morley-Tyler  Manual  being  used  as 
the  text-book. 

"The  ^ major  course'  is  taken  by  students  of  the  third 
year.  For  the  current  academic  year  it  consists  of  two  hours 
weekly  in  Anglo-Saxon ;  one  hour  in  the  early  Scottish  poets, 
of  the  fourteenth  century  to  the  sixteenth ;  one  hour  in  the 
Elizabethan  writers  (including  careful  study  of  one  play  of 
Shakespeare)  during  the  first  half-year,  and  one  hour  in  the 
writers  of  the  eighteenth  century  during  the  second  half-year. 

"  Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  the  entire  course  deals  with  the 


152  THE  TEACHING  OF  ENGLISH. 

earliest  English,  or  Anglo-Saxon,  the  transitional  literature 
from  Anglo-Saxon  to  Chaucer,  the  Scottish  literature  from  the 
time  of  Chaucer  to  that  of  Elizabeth,  the  Elizabethan  and 
Jacobean  writers,  and  the  '  classical '  writers  of  the  last 
century." 

(3)  Collegiate  courses  (conducted  by  Professor  Greene). 

"  A  course  in  rhetoric  and  English  composition  (three 
hours  a  week)  is  prescribed  for  every  student  during  the  first 
year  of  his  connection  with  the  University.  Theory  is  im- 
parted by  means  of  text-books  (A.  S.  Hill's  Principles  of 
Rhetoric  and  Genung's  F radical  Rhetoric)^  lectures,  and  dis- 
cussions; practice  is  obtained  by  the  writing  of  a  limited 
number  of  formal  essays  and  of  a  large  number  of  short 
papers.  The  instructor  keeps  office-hours  for  the  purpose  of 
criticising  privately  the  formal  essays,  which  are  returned  to 
the  writers  for  correction.  The  short  papers  are  in  part 
specially  prepared,  and  in  part  written  oif-hand  in  the  class- 
room ;  they  are  read  and  criticised  from  week  to  week  in  the 
presence  of  the  class,  and  are  returned  to  the  writers  for  such 
correction  as  may  be  needed.  Each  member  of  the  class 
makes  a  careful  study  of  the  style  of  one  prose  author  (usu- 
ally of  a  nineteenth  century  author),  and  presents  the  results 
of  his  study  in  the  form  of  a  series  of  short  papers  and  one 
formal  essay.  In  this  way  the  principal  features  of  a  good 
prose  style  are  impressed  upon  the  mind  of  every  student. 
Toward  the  end  of  the  year  two  or  three  essays  and  one  ar- 
gumentative speech  are  critically  studied  in  the  class-room, 
as  models  of  construction  and  of  style. 

"  The  course  which  is  described  above  leads  up  to  a  course 
in  English  literature  (three  hours  a  week),  which  is  prescribed 
for  every  student  during  the  second  year  of  his  connection 
with  the  University.  Two  hours  a  week  throughout  the  year 
are  given  to  a  careful  study  of  the  works  of  the  more  impor- 
tant English   authors,  —  as   Chaucer,  Spenser,  Shakespeare, 


ENGLISH  AT  THE  JOHNS   HOPKINS   UNIVERSITY.    153 

Milton.  Questions  that  have  to  do  with  the  form  and  the 
spirit  of  the  various  types  of  literature  are  dealt  with  con- 
cretely as  they  arise  in  the  course  of  the  study,  and  only  occa- 
sionally by  means  of  a  systematic  and  formal  treatment  in 
lectures.  One  hour  a  week  throughout  the  year  is  occupied 
by  a  series  of  lectures  in  which  the  instructor  strives  to  obtain 
unity  and  perspective  by  bringing  before  the  student  —  and 
by  inviting  him  to  see,  handle,  and  taste  —  all  the  more  im- 
portant works  in  the  long  history  of  English  literature.  A 
shelf  of  reference-books,  which  are  changed  from  week  to 
week,  takes  the  place  of  a  text-book  ;  Mr.  Stopford  Brooke's 
Primer  of  English  Literature  is  referred  to  as  a  syllabus  of 
the  course. 

"  To  students  in  the  third  year  there  is  offered  an  elective 
course  in  English  literature  (two  hours  a  week),  which  may 
vary  from  year  to  year  :  e.g.,  eighteenth  century  literature, 
first  half-year;  nineteenth  century  literature,  second  half- 
year.  A  considerable  amount  of  private  reading  is  expected 
of  all  students  in  English  literature.  Practice  in  English 
composition  is  continued  during  the  second  and  third  years  ; 
the  subjects  for  essays  are  drawn  from  the  various  courses 
that  each  student  is  pursuing,  during  the  second  year  chiefly 
from  English  literature,  during  the  third  year  from  other 
courses  also,  as  philosophy,  history,  and  political  economy. 

"  The  courses  described  above  are  intended  to  develope  in 
the  student  such  skill  in  writing  English  prose  and  to  lead 
him  into  such  acquaintance  with  English  literature,  as  may 
properly  be  expected  of  an  educated  man ;  those  who  wish  to  \  \ 
make  a  specialty  of  English  follow  the  course  of  study  known 
as  Group  vii,  above  (2).  No  undergraduate  student,  it 
should  be  said,  is  permitted  to  devote  to  English,  or  to  any 
one  subject,  the  greater  part  of  his  time  ;  nor  is  he  permitted 
to  receive  the  first  degree  in  arts  unless  he  has  to  his  credit 
courses  in  philosophy,  economics,  and  history,  and  one 
course  requiring  laboratory  work. 


154  THE  TEACHING   OF   ENGLISH. 

"  To  graduate  students  there  is  offered  during  the  present 
year  a  course  in  the  history  and  theory  of  rhetoric.  Al- 
though this  course  does  not  include  practice  in  writing,  it 
is  nevertheless  a  practical  course,  in  that  it  is  designed  for 
those  who  intend  to  become  teachers  of  rhetoric ;  it  includes 
an  exposition  of  present  methods  of  teaching  rhetoric." 

It  is  to  be  added  that  provision  has  been  made  for  courses 
of  public  lectures  on  literature.  The  initial  course  of  the 
Percy  Turnbull  Memorial  Lectureship  in  Poetry  was  given 
(1890-1)  by  Mr.  Edmund  Clarence  Stedman :  "  The  Nature  and 
Elements  of  Poetry ;  "  in  the  second  course  (1891-2)  Profes- 
sor E.  C.  Jebb,  (Cambridge,  England),  treated  "The  Growth 
and  Influence  of  Classical  Greek  Poetry ; "  the  third  course 
(1892-3),  on  "  The  Growth  and  Influence  of  Latin  Poetry,'' 
was  given  by  Professor  E.  Y.  Tyrrell  (University  of  Dublin) ; 
and  the  fourth  course  (1893-4),  on  Dante,  by  Professor 
Charles  Eliot  Norton  (Harvard  University). 

There  are  also,  annually,  public  lectures  on  English  litera- 
ture, provided  for  by  the  Caroline  Donovan  Foundation  of  a 
professorship  in  English  literature. 


ENGLISH    AT   THE    UNIVERSITY   OF   MINNESOTA. 

PKOFESSOR  GEORGE  E.  MAC  LEAN. 

As  The  Dial  has  said  in  its  editorial  columns,  the  State- 
supported  institutions  of  the  New  West  rightly  constitute  a 
group.  Of  them  in  particular  it  may  be  said  that  "they 
stand  for  experiment,  fertility  of  invention,  and  the  broaden- 
ing of  standards."  The  credit  is  largely  to  be  given  to  that 
famous  mother,  Necessity. 

For  example,  in  the  earlier  days,  these  institutions  had 
to  provide  for  students  who  had  "  small  Latine  and  lesse 
Greeke.''  Many  of  the  patrons  and  officials  of  the  public 
schools  wished  that  there  should  be  less  Latin  and  no  Greek. 
The  modern  languages,  and  more  especially  English,  were  put 
in  the  place  of  the  ancient  classics.  Hence  the  large  English 
requirements  for  admission  and  the  four  years'  college  course 
in  English. 

Until  recently  the  extended  English  courses  thus  devel- 
oped in  the  State  schools  and  universities  were  of  one  type, 
viz.,  rhetorical,  oratorical,  and  literary-historical.  The  variar 
tions  from  this  type  have  been  marked  in  Minnesota. 

In  the  high  schools  the  older  and  generic  requirements 
of  English  grammar,  rhetoric,  and  composition  and  Eng- 
lish literature  have  become  more  specific,  and  are  treated  in 
accordance  with  new  standards.  A  series  of  departmental 
monographs  for  the  guidance  of  the  instruction  in  these 
subjects  is  issued  in  frequent  editions  of  the  Manual  of  the 
High  School  Board.  The  study  of  English  and  American 
classics  is  laid  out  for  the  four  years  of  the  high-school  course. 

155 


W 


156  THE  TEACHING  OF  ENGLISH. 

The  history  of  English  literature  is  provided  for  m  an  accom- 
panying course.  Essays  upon  the  books  read  make  a  regular 
part  of  the  work.  Students  in  preparation  for  the  University, 
not  taking  Greek  and  Latin,  are  required  to  add  to  the  above 
mentioned  English  subjects,  not  only  German  or  French,  but 
also  a  course  in  Latin,  in  the  Latin  elements  of  English. 
This  requirement  of  Latin  in  the  English  course  is  a  step 
in  advance  of  the  practice  of  other  State  universities. 

In  the  University,  plans  are  on  foot  for  the  organization, 
under  one  head,  of  the  English  in  all  the  Departments  and 
Colleges.  Our  experience  satisfies  us  that  the  confederation 
of  the  different  Departments,  with  the  preservation  of  their 
autonomy,  will  greatly  redound  to  the  interest  of  the  student, 
and  to  the  maintenance  of  culture  in  connection  with  the  zeal 
of  the  specialist. 

Confining  ourselves  to  the  College  of  Science,  Literature, 
and  the  Arts,  there  are  at  the  present  moment  two  distinct 
Departments  —  that  of  English  Language  and  Literature,  and 
that  of  Rhetoric  and  Elocution.  During  the  last  lustrum,  the 
number  of  scholars  attending  the  University  having  risen 
from  one  thousand  to  twenty-three  hundred,  it  has  not  been 
possible  to  increase  the  teaching  staff  proportionately.  In 
the  Department  of  English  Language  and  Literature  there 
were,  during  the  past  year,  upwards  of  eight  hundred  regis- 
trations, and  in  the  Department  of  Rhetoric  about  eight  hun- 
dred students  have  been  enrolled  the  present  year. 

In  language  and  literature,  the  instructors  are  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  University  as  lecturer,  a  professor,  an  assistant 
professor,  and  three  instructors;  in  rhetoric,  a  professor  and 
three  instructors. 

In  the  Department  of  Language  and  Literature,  some  sixty 
students  annually  elect  English  as  the  major  language  of  their 
course.  A  year  and  two-thirds  is  devoted  to  Old  (Anglo-Sax- 
on) and  Middle  English.     The  plan  is  to  devote  the  two  lower 


ENGLISH  AT  THE  UNIVERSITY   OF   MINNESOTA.      157 

years  to  the  linguistic  training  as  a  foundation  for  the  two 
upper  years  in  literature.  The  position  is  taken  that  not  only 
are  linguistics  and  literature  not  inimical  to  one  another, 
but  also  that  they  are  necessary  and  complementary  the  one 
to  the  other.  The  substitution  in  the  long  English  course,  of 
the  extended  linguistic  work  in  place  of  the  former  cursory 
reading  of  recent  authors,  has  increased  the  number  of  stu- 
dents in  the  course  and  the  respect  for  it.  Its  students  are 
prepared  in  due  time,  7iot  to  "  chatter  about  Shelley,"  but  to 
criticise  and  interpret  him  intelligently  and  lovingly. 

The  University  is  unique  among  institutions  of  its  size 
and  character  in  requiring  a  short  course  (the  last  two  terms 
of  Sophomore  year)  in  English  language  and  literature  of  all 
candidates  for  bachelor's  degrees.  In  this  course  the  elements 
of  Old  English  (Anglo-Saxon)  a-re  a  constituent  part.  In  the 
Junior  year,  the  morphology  of  literature  is  treated.  Stress 
is  laid  upon  the  historical  relations  of  the  literature  in  the 
study  of  a  great  period  (generally  the  Elizabethan)  and  of  sev- 
eral typical  authors.  In  the  Senior  year  the  work  becomes 
historico-critical  with  the  emphasis  upon  the  critical  side^  A 
comprehensive  critical  apparatus,  making  the  circuit  from 
the  linguistic  to  the  aesthetic,  is  applied  to  one  of  the  great 
periods  in  the  nineteenth  century.  In  particular,  experiments 
in  criticism  are  carried  forward  in  a  senior  Seminar,  limited  to 
a  few  honor  students.  The  results  of  the  labors  of  semi- 
narians are  generally  prepared  for  publication.  The  appre- 
ciation of  literature  is  shown,  not  only  in  the  enthusiasm  of 
the  pupils,  but  in  the  fact  that  some  of  them  have  devoted 
their  lives  to  the  interpretation  of  literature. 

The  Knights  of  English  Learning,  a  voluntary  society  aux- 
iliary to  the  department,  is  open  to  graduate  students,  Seniors, 
and  Juniors  pursuing  the  study  of  English.  In  this  society, 
inspiration  is  gained  through  the  addresses  of  invited  guests, 
and  instruction  is  broadened  by  the  hearing  and  discussion  of 

<"       ^"^         OF  THE        '   ' 

XJNIVERSITT^ 


a 


168  THE  TEACHING   OF   ENGLISH. 

the  results  of  special  work  by  the  students.  The  society  has 
sections  for  specific  work,  making  miniature  journal  clubs, 
dialect  societies,  etc. 

In  the  Graduate  Department,  a  few  years  ago  the  work 
consisted  chiefly  in  guiding  individuals  in  research  or  special 
studies.  While  this  is  still  done,  the  increasing  attendance 
of  graduates  now  makes  it  possible  to  organize  them  into 
small  classes,  which  are  virtually  seminaries.  There  have 
been  six  such  classes  during  the  present  year.  The  stand 
that  the  Department  has  taken,  that  the  time  has  come  to 
make  Old  English  available  for  those  of  English  speech,  as 
the  natural  point  of  departure  for  the  study  of  Teutonic,  and, 
ultimately,  of  comparative  philology,  appears  plainly  in  the 
assignment  to  the  English  Department,  in  the  graduate  work 
of  the  University,  of  the  subjects  of  Gothic  and  Old  Saxon. 
At  this  point  the  work  is  strengthened  by  the  co-operation  of 
the  Departments  of  German,  of  Scandinavian,  and  of  Romance 
Languages  and  Literatures.  The  candidates  for  second  de- 
grees and  for  the  degree  of  Ph.D.  may  specialize  in  linguistic 
or  literary  subjects  as  they  please.  It  will  be  seen  that  the 
undergraduate  work,  with  its  range  of  electives,  permits  one 
to  make  his  linguistic  or  literary  line  a  major,  while  it  com- 
jjels  him  to  take  the  other  as  a  minor.  In  short  the  principles 
of  the  new,  misunderstood,  and  abused  "  Honour  School  of 
English  Language  and  Literature  at  Oxford,"  have  been  in 
successful  practice  here  for  nearly  a  decade. 

As  regards  methods  of  instruction  we  are  eclectic.  At 
some  point  we  endeavor  to  illustrate  by  experiment  every 
method,  ancient  and  modern.  If  one  term  had  to  be  used, 
the  "  laboratory  method  "  would  describe  ours.  Indeed  the 
method  has  grown  to  such  proportions  that  we  have  just  been 
equijiped  with  a  literary  laboratory.  The  English  depart- 
ment is  housed  in  an  extensive  suite  of  rooms  in  which  are 
offices,  seminary   rooms,  graduate   workroom,  and   recitation 


ENGLISH   AT   THE   UNIVERSITY   OF   MINNESOTA.      159 

rooms.  These  rooms  are  in  the  large  new  central  library 
building  just  completed.  The  Departmental  Library,  espe- 
cially classified  to  suit  the  work  of  the  Department,  will  be 
distributed  through  these  rooms. 

The  remainder  of  this  article  is  a  statement,  prepared  by 
Professor  Sanford,  of  the  work  done  in  the  large  Department 
of  Ehetoric  and  Elocution. 

"  The  work  in  rhetoric  consists  of  the  required  course  of 
the  Freshman  and  Sophomore  classes,  —  one  hour  a  week  for 
the  two  years ;  and  elective  courses  of  four  hours  a  week 
throughout  the  Junior  and  Senior  years. 

"  In  the  Freshman  class  the  work  is  largely  technical  and 
mechanical.  Many  of  our  students,  and  often  those  who  de- 
velope  power  and  taste  in  English  composition,  are  of  foreign 
birth  or  ancestry,  and  come  to  the  University  well  prepared  in 
mental  development,  but  ignorant,  or  at  least  unskilled,  in  the 
use  of  the  English  language.  Constant  practice  in  writing, 
constant  attention  to  correct  grammatical  and  rhetorical  forms 
in  speech,  and  thorough  drill  in  the  text-book,  is  the  work  of 
the  Freshman  year.  It  may  be  urged  that  the  high  schools 
should  do  this  work.  Very  true,  and  some  of  them  are  doing 
it  admirably  ;  but  where,  as  in  Minnesota,  so  large  a  propor- 
tion of  the  population  consists  of  foreigners  who  are  ambi- 
tious and  capable,  the  University  must  be  content  to  do  a  part 
of  this  drill.  A  boy  may  lead  his  class  in  mathematics  and 
Latin  and  chemistry,  and  still  be  unable  to  free  his  tongue 
from  the  Scandinavian  accent,  or  his  written  page  from  for- 
eign idioms.  The  high  schools  are  year  by  year  doing  better 
work,  but  with  a  foreign  population  so  intelligent  as  ours,  and 
furnishing  so  many  of  our  common  school  teachers,  the  funda- 
mental work  of  the  University  must  be  a  struggle  for  cor- 
rectness. 

"  But,  while  seeking  to  discharge  the  first  duty  of  the  de- 
partment of  rhetoric,  that  of  teaching  students  to  speak  and 


160  THE  TEACHING   OF   ENGLISH. 

write  the  English  language  correctly,  we  do  not  lose  sight 
of  the  high  privilege  of  cultivating  the  taste,  stimulating  a 
spirit  of  generous  criticism,  and  arousing  and  directing  inde- 
pendent and  creative  power.  Even  in  the  Freshman  class,  by 
occasional  contests,  and  by  sometimes  printing  the  best  work, 
students  are  encouraged  to  seek  diligently  the  best  gifts.  As 
a  means  to  this  end  an  option  of  long  and  short  course  is 
offered,  the  long  course  requiring  extra  work,  and  preparing 
for  the  oratory  and  literary  criticism  of  the  higher  classes. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  during  the  two  years  that  this  long 
course  has  been  offered,  three-fourths  of  the  Sophomore  and 
Freshman  classes  have  chosen  it,  although  it  calls  for  at  least 
one-third  more  work. 

"  In  the  Sophomore  year  the  text-book  is  still  used,  but  it 
*.s  subordinate  to  the  application  of  principles  in  the  study  of 
authors  and  in  the  criticism  of  the  student's  own  work.  To 
secure  brevity,  for  instance,  the  class  is  required  for  five  suc- 
cessive weeks  to  handle  different  topics  effectively  upon  a 
single  page  of  script.  These  exercises  are  corrected  and  re- 
turned, and  the  best,  and  sometimes  the  poorest,  are  read  with 
the  criticism  in  class.  Then  they  are  required  to  bring  in  from 
standard  authors  striking  examples  of  brevity.  And  so  on, 
with  unity,  beauty,  etc.  In  the  third  term  of  the  Sophomore 
year,  speeches  of  welcome,  toasts,  patriotic  speeches,  and  argu- 
mentative orations  are  required.  These  are  corrected  and  de- 
livered in  class,  the  student  exercising  his  own  invention  in 
the  selection  of  suV)ject  and  occasion.-  This  has  been  found 
very  valuable  in  stimulating  ambition,  calling  out  wit,  and  in 
preparing  students  for  the  demands  made  by  society  upon  the 
educated.  » 

"  In  the  elective  courses  of  the  Junior  and  Senior  years,  one- 
fourth  of  the  time  is  given  to  debate,  one-fourth  to  orations, 
sometimes  carefully  prepared,  and  sometimes  called  for  upon 
familiar  subjects  impromptu,  the  idea  being  that  an  educated 


ENGLISH  AT  THE   UNIVERSITY   OF   MINNESOTA.     161 

man  should  be  informed  and  ready  to  speak  upon  all  matters 
of  general  interest.  One  important  feature  of  the  training  is 
the  helpful  criticism  given  by  students  to  each  other,  applying 
general  principles  and  noting  progress  in  correcting  faults. 
One-half  of  the  time  is  given  to  literary  criticism.  The  con- 
stant aim  is  to  cultivate  independent  thought,  not  to  rehearse 
the  ideas  of  older  critics ;  to  awaken  interest  in  the  author,  to 
lead  the  class  to  perceive  in  what  lies  his  power,  and  to  find 
out  also  his  limitations.  Especial  prominence  is  given  to  the 
idea  that  taste  and  critical  skill  must  come  from  appreciative 
recognition  of  excellence,  not  merely  from  pointing  out  faults 
in  the  work  under  examination." 


APPENDIX. 


ENGLISH  IN  THE  SOUTHERN  UNIVERSITIES. 

[Communication  to  the  editors  of  The  Dial.l 
PROFESSOR   JOHN  B.    HENNEMAX. 

Your  series  of  articles  on  the  study  of  English  in  American     I 
universities,  and  particularly  the  general  conclusions  of  your     {^ 
summary  in  the  issue  of  November  1,  have  proved  interesting^jT 
reading  to  a  large  constituency.      Yet  I  fear  the  silence  as 
to  the  work  in  English  in  a  whole   section  of  our  country 
might  seem  unintentionally  misleading.    True,  the  University 
of  Virginia  has  found  a  place  in  your  list  as  a  Southern  insti- 
tution, and  all  her  old  students  know  how  to  praise  warmly 
the  work   she  has   done  and   promises    to  do  for  American 
scholarship.     But,  just  in  the  department  of  English,  there 
have  also  been  other  institutions  in  the  South  and  Southwest 
which   established    reputed    courses,    even    before   Virginia's 
noble  university,  and  have  influenced  vitallj'^  the  tendencies 
of  thought  and  culture  in  the  Southern  half  of  the  United 
States. 

I  shall  not  here  reproduce  any  of  the  points  emphasized   ,  . 
in  an  article  on  "  The  Study  of  English  in  the  South  "  written    j  \ 
for    The    Sewanee   Review,    February,    1894.      The    attempt      I 
was  there  made  to  give  the  history  of  the  movement.     But    ' 
one  marked  fact  was  the  attention  paid  to  English,  by  the 
side  of  Latin,  Greek,  and  other  "humanistic"  studies,  as  a 
full  and  independent  course,  in  many  Southern  institutions 

163 


164  APPENDIX. 

at  very  early  dates.     Eandolph-MacQii  and  Eichmond  Colleges 
in  Virginia  have  had  full  English  courses  since  1868.    English 

f  was  emphasized  at  Washington  and  Lee  University  from  the 
beginning  of  General  R.  E.  Lee's  administration,  and  the 
'  present  incumbent  of  the  English  chair  in  that  institution 
i  has  been  in  position  steadily  to  develope  his  department  since 
1876.  Vanderbilt  University  in  Nashville,  the  University 
cf  the  South  at  Sewanee,  Tulane  University  in  New  Orleans, 
have,  from  their  inception,  emphasized  and  strengthened  their 
English  courses.  Some  of  the  smaller  colleges,  too,  have 
been  exceptionally  zealous  in  this  field;  e.g.,  William  and 
Mary  and  Hampden-Sidney  in  Virginia,  Davidson  in  North 
Carolina,  and  Charleston  and  Wofford  in  South  Carolina. 
Washington  and  Lee  and  Vanderbilt  Universities  have,  more- 
over,  developed   valuable   post-graduate   courses   in   English 

I  looking  to  the  doctor's  degree.  The  preceding  are  all  cases 
of  private  corporations.  Likewise,  many  of  the  State  univer- 
sities have  shown  peculiar  sensitiveness  to  the  importance 
of  the  English  instruction,  and  have  emphasized  its  scope  and 
its  inspirational  and  training  value.  The  merit  of  the  courses 
offered  in  the  Universities  of  Texas,  Missouri,  Mississippi, 
South  Carolina,  North  Carolina,  and  Tennessee,  I  can  readily 
instance. 

An  interesting  and  noteworthy  feature,  in  these  cases,  is 
the  attention  given  to  the  constant  practice  in  English  com- 
position, to  criticism,  to  personal  acquaintance  with  literature, 
and  to  the  emphasis  of  library  needs  and  library  work.  The 
historical  study  of  the  language  goes  hand  in  hand  with  the 
above,  yet  serves,  I  think,  in  most  cases,  not  as  an  end  in 
itself,  but  maiT^''^^  as  a  means  of  giving  greater  power  in 
linguistic  knowledge  and  attainment  and  in  literary  expres- 
sion. But  the  greatest  gain  has  been  in  the  fact  that  more 
attention  is  paid  each  year  to  the  entrance  requirements; 
preparatory  schools  are  everywhere  discarded,   independent 


ENGLISH  IN  THE   SOUTHERN   UNIVERSITIES.         165 

fitting  schools  are  encouraged  in  their  stead,  and  the  system 
of  special  accredited  schools  is  generally  extending.  While 
much  is  still  to  be  desired  in  the  country  localities,  the  policy 
is  working  well  in  towns  and  cities.  Fair  training  and 
practice  in  the  elements  of  the  mother  tongue  may  thus  be 
demanded  before  entrance,  and  generally  be  accepted  as 
already  possessed. 

With  some  ground-work  to  start  with,  therefore,  a  course 
of  four  years  in  the  practical  application  of  the  rules  of  com- 
position and  rhetoric,  and  in  the  study  of  literary  topics  is 
usually  added  in  college.  For  instance,  the  University  of 
Tennessee  maps  out  for  the  four  full  years  such  a  course 
in  composition  and  literary  work ;  the  philology  course  of 
two  years  is  independent  and  parallel,  for  advanced  students 
and  graduates  who  desire  linguistic  training.  All  work  cen- 
tres in  the  library  :  the  library  is  the  workshop  of  the  English 
classes.  Practical  composition  is  attained,  not  only  by  con- 
stant theme-work,  but  also  by  reports  (we  make  them  weekly) 
based  upon  work  done  in  the  library  in  connection  with  class 
topics.  From  our  librarian's  record  for  the  last  two  months 
(October  and  November),  1,351  slips  show  that  this  number 
of  volumes  was  taken  out  over-night  from  the  seminary  room 
alone,  where  all  the  important  books  referred  to  in  class 
lectures  are  temporarily  placed  for  general  use.  A  total  of 
1,933  volumes,  all  told,  taken  out  by  the  students  in  only  two 
months,  apart  from  the  perhaps  still  larger  number  of  books 
used  in  the  library  rooms,  when  there  are  fewer  than  three 
hundred  students  altogether  in  attendance  in  all  departments, 
is  a  fair  showing  for  the  general  interest  and  the  nature  of 
the  practical  results. 

Most  of  the  Southern  institutions,  I  find,  study  formal 
literature  by  topics  or  periods.  Adopting  the  topical  method 
as  most  clearly  defined  for  all  purposes,  in  our  own  case, 
we  have  made  the  serious  study  of  American  literar^_f}ondi- 


166  APPENDIX. 

tions  the  subject  for  investigation  for  one  whole  year,  just 
because  it  contains  the  essence  of  our  nationality,  and  brings 
the  facts  and  possibilities  of  American  life  and  authorship 
closer  home  to  the  youthful  aspirant.  Similarly,  the  study 
of  the  nineteenth  century  English  writers,  both  in  prose  and 
in  verse,  best  bears  the  impress  of  the  modern  consciousness, 
and  reproduces  most  closely  existing  tendencies  and  habits 
of  thought.  The  prolonged  study  of  Shakespeare  by  the 
maturest  students  is  a  just  recognition  of  the  poet's  supreme 
power. 

Necessarily,  all  the  courses  in  the  above-named  institu- 
tions (and  there  are  others  still)  differ  among  themselves; 
but,  nevertheless,  one  general  spirit  animates  them.  They 
cannot  pretend  to  have  solved  all  the  difficulties  present  and 
to  have  met  all  the  needs  required ;  but,  I  think,  it  is  not  too 
bold  to  assert  that  they  are  at  least  doing  their  share  in  up- 
building and  leavening  and  spiritualizing  the  existing  condi- 
tions of  American  life. 


ENGLISH   AT   A   FKENCH   UNIVEESITY. 

[Editorial  from  The  Dial,  July  16, 1894.] 

The  proceedings  of  the  International  Congress  of  Educa- 
tion, held  in  Chicago  last  summer,  have  just  been  published 
in  a  carefully  edited  volume  of  a  thousand  pages.  The  work 
is  an  almost  inexhaustible  storehouse  of  information  and 
comment  upon  most  subjects  of  current  educational  interest, 
and  ought  to  prove  hopeful  and  stimulating  in  the  highest 
degree  to  the  thousands  of  teachers  into  whose  hands  it  will 
come.  One  department  in  particular,  that  devoted  to  the 
subject  of  higher  education,  is  noteworthy  for  the  breadth 
and  scholarly  character  of  the  papers  and  discussions  included. 
There  are  addresses  by  Presidents  Oilman,  Kellogg,  Ray- 
mond, Low,  Angell,  Jordan,  and  Keane,  by  Professors  Hale, 
Shorey,  West,  Wilson,  and  Sproull.  Upon  some  of  these  ad- 
dresses we  commented  at  the  time  of  the  Congress,  and  are 
glad  to  see  that  permanent  form  has  now  been  given  them. 
But  our  special  purpose  just  now  is  to  direct  attention  to  the 
paper  on  "  The  Study  of  English  Literature  in  French  Uni- 
versities," prepared  for  the  Congress  by  M.  Chevrillon  of  the 
Lille  Faculte  des  Lettres,  but,  owing  to  some  misunderstand- 
ing, not  read,  and  now  made  public  for  the  first  time. 

Few  who  have  not  made  a  special  investigation  of  the 
subject  have  any  idea  of  the  immense  achievement  of  the 
Third  French  Eepublic  in  the  reorganization  of  public  instruc- 
tion. To  the  thinking  mind,  the  work  done  in  this  direction 
is  greater  and  more  significant  than  the  work  of  political  or  of 
military  or  of  social  reorganization.      But  it  is  not  of  a  nature 

167 


168  APPENDIX. 

to  attract  public  attention,  and  is  practically  unknown  outside 
of  France.  M.  Chevrillon  gives  us  an  amusing  illustration 
of  the  attitude  of  the  foreigncT  in  this  matter  :  — 

"  I  remember,  a  few  years  ago,  reading  an  article  in  the  great  Eng- 
lish Philistine  paper —  The  Daily  Telegraph  —  in  which  it  was  said  that 
the  great  majority  of  French  people  thought  that  Shakespeare  was  a 
lieutenant  of  Wellington,  who  had  helped  him  to  win  the  Battle  of 
Waterloo.  Now,  this  was  unfortunate,  as  not  less  than  four  plays  of 
Shakespeare  had  just  been  performed  in  Paris.  But  the  prejudice  un- 
der which  the  writer  in  The  Daily  Telegraph  was  laboring  is  perfectly 
natural,  when  w^e  notice  that  a  nation  never  knows  what  its  neighbor 
is,  but  what  it  was  twenty  years  ago." 

This  closing  statement  is  only  too  true  when  applied  to 
knowledge  of  any  other  than  the  spectacular  aspect  of  life  in 
a  neighboring  country,  and  it  is  peculiarly  true  of  so  unobtru- 
sive a  thing  as  education.  A  quarter  of  a  century  ago,  when 
the  French  nation  had  sunk  to  its  lowest  level  in  the  degra- 
dation of  a  sham  imperialism,  when  the  frenzied  populace  was 
shouting  "  a  Berlin!  "  and  thought  the  Prussian  capital  really 
lay  just  across  the  Rhine,  the  stricture  of  the  English 
journalist  might  have  been  taken  as  approximately  true;  to- 
day, however  seriously  meant,  it  becomes  the  merest  jest. 

Turning  now  to  the  specific  subject  of  M.  Chevrillon's 
article,  we  will  first  reproduce  his  account  of  the  educational 
position  of  English  in  the  sixties. 

"  Twenty  or  thirty  years  ago,  French  boys  and  students  wrote  better 

(        Latin  verse  than  they  do  now,  but  of  English  literature  they  knew 

I         nothing,  except  the  names  of  Shakespeare,  Milton,  and  Byron.      Our 

great  arch-critic,  M.  Sarcey,  says  that  they  made  fun  of  Taine  at  the 

Ecole  Normale  because  he  was  reading  English.     Foreign   literatures 

'  were,  indeed,  supposed  to  be  taught  ;  but  any  man  who  had  graduated 

,  in  classics,  whether  he  knew  English  or  not,  was  supposed  to  be  good 

1  1       enough  for  that  kind  of  work.     When  he  left  the  Ecole  Normale,  after 

a  course  of  studies  in  Plato  and  Aristotle,  he  would  receive  notice  that 

he  was  appointed  professor  of  foreign  literatures,  and  had  to  begin 


ENGLISH   AT   A   FREKCH   UNIVERSITY.  169 

work  at  once.  One  of  these,  I  believe,  it  was  who  was  complaining  of 
the  difficulties  of  his  task.  '  What  a  language,'  he  said,  '  English  is  to 
pronounce  !  They  write  Boz  and  they  pronounce  Dickens.'  M.  Ernest 
Lavisse,  who  has  seen  this  generation  of  professors  of  English  litera- 
ture, was  telling  me,  the  other  day,  the  following  authentic  and  typical 
fact  :  When  he  was  a  student  at  Nancy,  at  the  Faculty  of  Letters,  he 
heard  a  lecture  on  the  literature  of  England  in  the  sixteenth  century. 
After  three-quarters  of  an  hour  the  professor  had  exhausted  his  subject, 
but  his  time  was  not  up.  '  Gentlemen,'  he  said,  pulling  out  his  watch, 
'  we  have  a  quarter  of  an  hour  yet.     We  have  time  to  do  Shakespeare.''  " 

Let  us  contrast  the  state  of  affairs  thus  hinted  at  with 
the  present  requirements  for  a  student  of  English.  After 
leaving  the  lycee,  he  registers  w^ith  one  of  the  faculties,  and 
begins  to  specialize.  The  licence  and  the  agregation  are  the 
two  stages  of  the  work  now  before  him.  The  lycee  has  given 
him  the  baccalaureate  degree;  the  licence  (which  means  two 
years'  work)  may  be  taken  as  fairly  equivalent  to  the  degree 
of  master  ;  and  the  agregation  (which  means  two  years  or 
more  of  further  work)  as  standing  for  the  German  or  Ameri- 
can doctorate.  The  work  of  the  licence  candidate  is  thus  de- 
scribed :  — 

"  Side  by  side  with  the  classics,  he  may  take  up  English  or  German 
literature,  philosophy,  history,  or  classical  philology.  Every  candidate 
for  the  licence  has  to  write  a  French  essay  on  French  literature,  a 
Latin  essay  on  Latin  literature.  Then,  according  to  the  specialty  he 
has  selected,  he  writes  papers  on  historical  or  philosophical  subjects,  or 
translations  from  French  into  English  or  German,  or  from  English  or 
German  into  French.  The  viva  voce  examination  consists,  for  all  can- 
didates, in  questions  on  French,  Latin,  and  Greek  literature,  and 
extempore  translations  from  the  classics,  and  for  those  of  the  candi- 
dates who  make  French  a  special  subject,  in  questions  on  English 
literature,  and  translations  into  English  and  French  of  the  French  and 
English  authors  on  the  programme. 

The  first  of  the  two  years  required  for  the  licence,  the  stu- 
dent works  at  the  University. 


170  APPENDIX. 

"  During  this  first  year,  the  chief  purpose  of  the  English  professor  is 
not  so  much  to  acquaint  him  with  the  whole  field  of  English  literature 
as  to  give  him  an  insight  into  the  spirit,  the  genius,  of  English  litera- 
ture, and  to  make  him  feel  the  artistic  element  in  the  great  writers.  A 
French  youth,  fresh  from  his  Tacitus,  his  Racine,  and  his  Voltaire,  can- 
not, unless  he  has  great  natural  talent,  understand,  or  rather,  feel  at 
once,  Carlyle  or  Tennyson.  This  is  done  through  minute  translation, 
the  aim  of  which  is  not  to  acquaint  the  student  with  new  words  or  new 
constructions,  but  to  teach  him  how  to  find  those  French  forms  that 
will  best  express  something  of  the  beauty  peculiar  to  the  original  Eng- 
lish text.  The  tendency  is  thus  to  develop  the  artistic  sense  in  the 
student,  and  to  give  him  a  mastery  of  his  own  language.  At  the  last 
examination  for  the  licence,  at  Lille,  the  English  translation  being 
Milton's  II  Penseroso,  several  candidates  were  dropped  who  had  un- 
derstood every  word  and  the  literal  meaning  of  the  text,  but  it  was 
clear  from  their  translations  that  they  had  not  felt  the  spirit  of  Milton's 
poem,  or  had  failed  to  express  it." 

The  second  year  of  preparation  for  the  licence  is  spent  in 
absentia,  the  students  being  sent  to  England  for  twelve 
months. 

"  They  remain  correspondents  of  the  University  ;  that  is  to  say, 
they  have  to  send  papers  to  the  professors  of  French,  Greek,  and  Latin, 
thus  preparing  themselves  for  those  general  parts  of  the  licence  which 
are  demanded  of  all  candidates  to  the  degree.  With  the  English  pro- 
fessor they  of  course  correspond  also,  and  the  main  thing  that  he  re- 
quires them  to  do  is  to  steep  themselves  in  English  life — to  go  to  the 
theatres,  sermons,  public  meetings,  to  see  English  university  life,  to 
make  English  friends,  to  think  in  English,  to  assume  English  forms  of 
liabit  and  prejudices  —  in  short,  for  one  year  to  throw  off  the  French- 
man, to  make  themselves  Englishmen,  and  to  step  out  of  the  natural 
mind  and  sensibility.  After  this  experience,  when  they  come  back  to 
France  and  settle  into  the  old  man  again,  they  have  become  able  to  look 
at  English  writers  from  the  English  point  of  view." 

The  work  of  this  Wanderjahr  is  perhaps  the  most  admirable 
feature  of  the  French  system.  The  force  with  which  such 
men  as  Montesquieu  and  Voltaire  brought  English  ideals  to 
bear  upon  French  thought  was  the  consequence  of  the  pro- 


« 


ENGLISH   AT   A   FRENCH    UNIVERSITY.  171 

tracted  visits  of  these  men  to  England,  and  mucli  may  be 
expected,  in  the  way  of  a  sympathetic  comprehension  of  Eng- 
lish thought,  from  this  yearly  sending  of  picked  men  from 
the  French  faculties  to  England,  for  the  purpose  of  studying 
English  life  and  literature  upon  their  own  soil. 

The  work  of  the  agregation  is  essentially  the  work  of 
preparation  for  a  professorship  in  a  government  lycee.  Since 
the  number  of  candidates  is  much  greater  than  the  number  of 
places  to  be  filled,  competition  becomes  keen  and  the  tests 
applied  are  very  severe.  A  new  list  of  authors  and  works  is 
prepared  each  year,  and  every  candidate  for  the  agregation 
has  fitted  himself  for  examination  on  two  or  more  of  these 
lists.  A  specimen  programme  offered  by  M.  Chevrillon  be- 
gins with  Fiers  Ploiuman  and  ends  with  Richard  Feverel.  It 
includes  works  of  Spenser,  Greene,  Shakespeare,  Sir  Thomas 
Browne,  Pope,  Cowper,  Burke,  Byron,  Landor,  and  Tennyson. 

"  By  their  fruits  ye  shall  know  them."  The  fruits  of  this 
system  are  found  in  such  works,  now  rapidly  multiplying,  as 
M.  Angelier's  volume  of  twelve  hundred  pages  on  the  work, 
life,  and  surroundings  of  Robert  Burns,  M.  Beljame's  work 
on  English  men  of  letters  and  their  public  in  the  eighteenth 
century,  and  M.  Jusserand's  book  on  English  wayfaring  life 
in  the  eighteenth  century.  M.  Chevrillon  claims  for  the  study 
of  English  that  it  opens  for  French  students  — 

"  a  vast  field  of  interesting,  often  passionating,  artistic  literature,  in- 
stinct with  tlie  loftiest  ideals,  with  the  deepest  human  sympathy  ;  full 
of  pathos,  of  feeling,  of  life  ;  full  of  the  sense  of  the  good,  of  the  right- 
eous, of  religious  earnestness,  as  ours  is  full  with  the  sense  of  the  true 
and  of  the  beautiful  —  one  of  the  most  powerful  to  instill  into  a  young 
mind  the  germs  that  will  develope  upwards.  .  .  .  The  modern  novels  of 
England,  the  pure,  idealistic  utterances  of  a  Carlyle,  of  a  Tennyson,  of 
an  Emerson,  are  among  the  greatest  means  of  education  of  the  present  \^ 
time.  Of  course,  the  first  thing  for  a  Frenchman  —  for  every  man —  V 
is  to  remain  in  contact  with  his  own  race  ;  to  read  those  writers  of  the 
past  that  have  moulded  the  soul  and  mind  of  his  own  nation,  and  those 


172  APPENDIX. 

writers  of  the  present  day  that  discuss  the  problems  which  the  people 
of  his  own  blood  have  to  solve  in  order  to  live  on  and  to  transmit  to 
their  posterity  the  national  inheritance.  But  when  he  has  done  that, 
let  him  turn  to  those  foreign  books  in  which  he  finds  an  ideal,  a  phi- 
losophy, an  aesthetics  —  views  of  life  widely  different  from  those  which 
prevail  in  the  French  books  of  his  own  time.  The  national  ideal  will 
then  cease  to  appear  to  him  as  a  central  one  toward  which  the  whole 
universe  ought  to  be  moved.  On  that  day  when  he  becomes  able  to  en- 
joy a  novel  of  Eliot  as  well  as  a  novel  of  Flaubert  —  nay,  on  that  day 
when  he  enjoys  the  very  difference  between  the  two  types  of  novel  — 
let  him  be  a  business  man  or  a  bourgeois,  he  is  a  man  of  broader  culture, 
in  the  true  sense  of  the  word,  than  the  scholar  who  devotes  his  life  to 
the  study  of  the  dative  case." 

It  is  the  spirit  of  M.  Chevrillon's  paper,  even  more  than  the 
matter,  that  makes  it  noteworthy,  and  it  may  not  be  amiss  to 
wish  that  a  little  more  of  this  spirit  were  infused  into  the 
English  instruction  given  at  our  own  universities. 


A   SOCIETY   OF   COMPARATIVE    LITERATURE. 

PKOFESSOE    CHARLES    MILLS     GAYLEY. 

Since  trustworthy  principles  of  literary  criticism  depend 
upon  the  substantiation  of  aesthetic  theory  by  scientific  in- 
quiry, and  since,  for  lack  of  systematic  effort,  the  comparative 
investigation  of  literary  types,  species,  movements,  and  themes 
is  not  yet  adequately  prosecuted,  I  should  like  to  call  the  at- 
tention of  my  felloAv-workers  in  the  general  field  of  literature 
to  the  need  of  collaboration.  No  individual  can,  unaided, 
gather  from  various  literatures  the  materials  necessary  for 
an  induction  to  the  characteristic  of  even  one  literary  type. 
The  time  has  come  for  organization  of  effort.  An  association 
should  be  formed,  as  proposed  by  me  in  The  Dial,  for  the 
comparative  investigation  of  literary  growths.  In  this  So- 
ciety of  Comparative  Literature  (or  of  Literary  Evolution) 
each  member  should  devote  himself  to  the  study  of  a  given 
type  or  movement  in  a  literature  with  which  he  is  specially, 
and  at  first  hand,  familiar.  Thus,  gradually,  wherever  the 
type  or  movement  has  existed,  its  evolution  and  characteristics 
may  be  observed  and  registered.  In  time,  by  systematization 
of  results,  an  induction  to  the  common  and  therefore  essential 
characteristics  of  the  phenomenon,  to  the  laws  governing  its 
origin,  growth,  and  differentiation,  may  be  made.  The  history 
of  national  criticism,  and  the  aesthetics  of  sporadic  critical 
theory,  are,  of  course,  interesting  subjects  of  study;  but  to 
adopt  canons  of  criticism  from  Boileau,  or  Yida,  or  Putten- 
ham,  or  Sidney,  or  Corneille,  or  even  Lessing  and  Aristotle, 
and  apply  them  to  types  or  varieties  of  type  with  which  these 

173 


!i 


174  APPENDIX. 

critics  were  unacquainted,  is  to  sit  in  the  well  in  your  back- 
yard and  study  the  stars  through  a  smoked  glass.  To  come 
at  the  laws  which  govern  the  drama,  for  instance,  it  is  not 
sufficient  that  we  modify  by  generally  accepted  aesthetic  prin- 
ciples the  canons  of  a  school  of  dramatic  critics,  and  then  re- 
vise the  results  in  the  light  of  our  inductions  from  the  drama 
of  the  charmed  Grseco-Roman-Celto-Teutonic  circle  in  which 
we  contentedly  expatiate.  The  specific  principles  of  technical 
(or  typical)  criticism  must  be  based  upon  the  characteristics 
of  the  type  not  only  in  well-known  but  in  less-known  litera- 
tures, among  aboriginal  as  well  as  civilized  peoples,  and  in  all 
stages  of  its  evolution.  Arrangements  should  be  made  for  the 
preparation  and  publication  of  scientific  monographs  on  na- 
tional developments  of  the  drama.  The  comparative  formu- 
lation of  results  would  assist  us  to  corroborate  or  to  renovate 
current  aesthetic  canons  of  dramatic  criticism.  So,  also,  with 
other  types  —  lyric,  epic,  etc.  —  and  with  the  evolution  of 
literary  movements  and  themes.  Of  course  the  labor  is 
arduous,  and  the  limit  undefined.  But  the  work  is  not  yet 
undertaken  by  any  English  or  American  organization,  or  by 
any  periodical  or  series  of  publications  in  the  English  lan- 
guage. The  members  of  this  Society  of  Comparative  Litera- 
ture must  be  hewers  of  wood  and  drawers  of  water.  Even 
though  they  cannot  hope  to  see  the  completion  of  a  temple  of 
criticism,  they  may  have  the  joy  of  construction :  the  reward 
of  the  philologist.  For  several  years  I  have  hoped  that  some 
one  else  would  set  this  ball  a-rolling.  If  the  idea  be  received 
with  favor,  I  intend  to  issue  a  detailed  statement  of  the  pur- 
poses and  plans  of  such  an  organization.  Assistance  and 
criticism  from  those  whom  the  suggestion  may  interest  are 
respectfully  solicited. 


TJNIVERSITT 

THE    STUDY   OF   ENGLISH   LITERATURE    FROM 
THE    STANDPOINT   OF    THE   STUDENT. 

[Communication  to  the  editors  of  The  Dial.] 
MR.    CHAKLES    W.    HODELL. 

The  readers  of  The  Dial  have  been  much  interested  in  the 
series  of  articles  on  the  Teaching  of  English  in  our  large 
Universities.  These  have  given  the  standpoint  of  the  teacher. 
But  that  of  the  student  may  be  of  no  less  interest.  And  as  I 
am  just  completing  my  student  life  in  the  Department  of 
English,  after  the  regular  preparatory,  college,  and  graduate 
work,  I  wish  to  present  a  few  thoughts  from  this  other  side. 

The"  favored  methods,  scientific  or  other,  of  secondary 
schools  do  not  invariably  bear  fruit  in  a  thorough  culture. 
But  wide  reading  in  good  books,  not  necessarily  classics,  is 
absolutely  indispensable  in  forming  a  good  taste  for  reading, 
and  for  exciting  an  interest  in  the  study  of  literature ;  it  is  a 
sub-conscious  preparation  for  the  conscious  activity  of  the 
matured  mind.  I  say  sub-conscious  advisedly  ;  for  the  young 
student  has  a  direct  interest  in  the  good  and  beautiful  in  what 
he  is  reading,  and  is  influenced,  whether  he  knows  it  or  not,  by 
his  interest ;  but  once  urge  him  to  give  conscious  articulation 
to  his  opinions,  and  to  dissect  his  sentiments,  and  the  charm 
of  his  reading  is  decreased.  Then  his  primitive  interest 
must  be  supplanted  by  something  further.  The  later  process 
of  studying  the  isolated  fact  is  good  in  its  time ;  but  if  prem- 
ature, it  causes  the  student  to  regard  his  study  of  literature 
as  a  de-naturalizing,  unbeautifying  process,  and  he  will  look 
in  later  years  with  a  horrified  remembrance  on  the  classics 
that  suffered  such  a  process  at  the  hands  of  his  teachers. 

175 


176  APPENDIX. 

I  wish  to  speak  of  an  objection  to  the  study  of  literature, 
which,  as  it  meets  every  student,  must  be  met  by  the  teacher. 
As  the  student  enters  his  second  or  third  year  in  college  he  is 
confronted  by  lines  of  elective  study.  He  is  called  on,  to  a 
certain  extent,  to  shape  the  growth  of  his  own  mind.  He  is 
eager  to  make  the  best  of  his  college  course;  he  wishes  to 
choose  wisely,  that  he  may  make  the  most  of  himself.  Nine 
students  out  of  ten  in  this  situation  say  to  themselves  on  first 
thought :  "  I  can  study  literature  for  myself  after  leaving  col- 
lege ;  I  must  not  let  work  that  can  be  accomplished  then  stand 
in  the  way  of  what  must  be  done  now  or  not  at  all ;  the  study 
of  literature  would  be  delightful,  but  it  would  requite  a  good 
deal  of  time,  and  under  the  circumstances  would  be  an  in- 
dulgence." This,  I  repeat,  is  the  thought  of  many  students 
at  the  critical  moment  of  their  college  lives.  I  must  take  for 
granted  that  many  readers  of  The  Dial  have  already  answered 
this  objection  for  themselves.  Yet  it  is  an  objection  that  the 
teacher  must  carefully  answer  to  those  who  enter  at  all  on  his 
elective  work,  —  not  with  an  ex-cathedra  answer,  but  the  silent, 
satisfactory  answer  of  skilfully  conducted  work.  As  the 
Latin  and  Greek  classics  were  made  the  instruments  of  cul- 
ture by  the  instructors  of  English  youth  during  the  past  cen- 
turies, so  our  English  classics,  with  less  intervention  of  the 
merely  technical,  can  be  made  the  instruments  of  culture  for 
the  American  youth.  These  English  classics  were,  primarily, 
the  education  of  James  Kussell  Lowell ;  and  they  must  be  the 
education  of  the  American  Chancers  and  Miltons  and  Words- 
worths  who  will  yet  come.  Let  the  teacher  convince  the  stu- 
dent of  this,  as  every  good  teacher  of  literature  does,  and  he 
will  have  the  choicest  students  of  the  college  in  his  elective 
courses. 

The  student,  in  consequence,  makes  certain  requirements 
of  his  teacher  in  this  department.  He  expects  a  living,  cul- 
tured personality,  not  a  fact-hopper  warranted  to  grind  and 


THE    STUDY   OF   ENGLISH   LITEKATUKE.  177 

sift  a  certain  quantum  of  knowledge  in  a  given  period  of  reci- 
tation hours.  The  life  in  the  teacher  which  adds  real  zest  to 
the  study  is  helpful  in  any  line ;  personal  enthusiasm  can 
modify  even  a  proposition  in  Euclid,  though  the  fact  that  the 
"  sum  of  the  angles  of  a  triangle  is  equal  to  two  right  angles  " 
n^y  be  demonstrated  by  an  automaton.  But  to  the  success- 
ful teaching  of  literature,  such  life  is  absolutely  indispens- 
able; for  the  study  of  literature  is  more  directly  a  study  of 
life  in  its  wide  relations,  and  life  only  can  interpret  life. 
The  teacher  needs  natural  and  manly  sentiments  and  thoughts, 
not  technical  apparatus  ;  and  these  can  find  origin  only  in  the 
essential  character. 

The  student  also  has  his  opinions  as  to  what  the  teacher's 
purpose  with  a  student  should  be.  It  is  an  almost  universal 
trait  of  young  minds  to  rebel  against  being  reduced  to  a  means. 
They  are  still  idealists  in  life ;  nothing  presents  itself  to  them 
as  more  worthful  than  their  own  life  and  its  prospects. 
Hence,  while  they  are  willing  to  do  almost  any  amount  of 
work  for  their  own  growth,  they  are  very  slow  to  make  of 
themselves  stones  for  the  temple  of  learning.  They  are  still 
possessed  by  the  thought  that  a  whole  is  greater  than  its 
parts  —  that  the  individual  life  is  greater  than  learning ;  they 
are  still  in  what  some  lament  as  a  state  of  primitive  egoism. 
The  successful  teacher  must  adapt  himself  to  this  state  of  the 
young  mind.  He  must  bring  some  real  contribution  to  that 
self -treasured  life ;  he  must  make  the  student  feel  that  he 
considers  that  life  worth  working  for,  and  must  shape  his 
methods  and  choice  of  masterpieces  to  that  end.  And  to  do 
this  the  student  must  be  made  to  feel  that  he  is  a  man,  or  at 
least  has  the  promise  of  manhood ;  that  his  natural  sentiments 
are  right  in  general,  and  need  training  and  direction,  rather 
than  noxious  Aveeds  to  be  extirpated  and  replaced  by  flowers 
transplanted  from  the  teacher's  mind.  Thus  the  pursuit  of 
his   own  ambition  and  his  natural    interest  in  good  reading 


178  APPENDIX. 

will  lead  him  on  to  the  most  serious  efforts  for  a  literary 
education. 

Facts  leave  us,  faculties  never.  No  student  who  has 
reached  the  junior  year  doubts  this.  He  has  forgotten  the 
tables  for  compound  numbers,  he  is  unable  to  name  the  figures 
of  speech.  But  he  knows  that  he  himself,  his  essential  man- 
hood, in  its  intellectual  and  moral  as  well  as  its  physical  self, 
has  been  developing  thews,  has  gained  power  to  grapple  with 
problems  of  much  more  importance.  He  even  goes  at  times 
to  the  dangerous  extreme  of  nonchalance  for  fact.  In  his 
studies,  including  his  study  of  literature,  he  will  appreciate 
an  effort  on  the  part  of  the  teacher  to  form  proper  tastes  and 
develope  powers  of  doing  within  him.  He  will  travel  labori- 
ously through  disjointed  facts  of  literary  history  and  literary 
origins  with  an  inward  protest ;  but  he  will  eagerly  labor  for 
the  literary  taste  which  he  sees  can  interpret  whatever  litera- 
ture is  presented  to  it;  for  he  is  really  anxious  to  get  that 
invaluable  secret  of  which  Mr.  Edward  Dowden  speaks  —  the 
interpretation  of  one  good  book,  and  by  it  the  power  over 
many.  Hence  he  will  be  ready  to  study  that  in  literature 
which  has  essential  worth,  but  will  be  less  moved  by  histori- 
cal, technical,  or  other  adventitious  interest.  He  will  welcome 
his  Shakespeare,  but  care  little  for  Shakeapeare's  antecedents. 
He  will  care  less  for  origins  than  for  life.  And  so  the  great 
treasure  for  which  his  teacher  will  ever  be  held  in  grateful 
remembrance  will  be  the  sound  judgment  and  sympathetic 
heart  so  necessary  for  entrance  into  the  kingdom  of  intellec- 
tual and  moral  life. 

I  do  not  wish  to  be  understood  as  attacking  the  investiga- 
tion of  the  historical  and  adventitious.  I  simply  speak  from 
the  standpoint  of  the  growing  young  mind.  Once  let  it  arrive 
at  its  proper  maturity,  and  it  will  see  these  things  in  their 
right  relations  and  work  for  them  accordingly.  But  let  no 
teacher  hasten  this  time  unadvisedly. 


EDUCATION   AND   LITERATUEE. 

[Communication  to  the  editors  of  The  Dial.}  ^^^,^j)^ 


PBOFESSOB    HIKAM    M.     STANLEY. 


In  connection  with  the  discussion  in  The  Dial  on  the 
Teaching  of  English  at  American  colleges  and  universities, 
it  may  not  be  amiss  to  emphasize  certain  tendencies  in  the 
scope  and  method  of  literary  education,  as  bearing  on  the 
future  of  literature.  Certainly  the  immediate  prospect  for 
literature  is  not  bright.  Our  civilization  is  daily  becoming 
more  democratic ;  the  people  draw  all  activities  toward  them- 
selves ;  and  the  literary  artist  is  more  than  ever  tempted  to 
be  untrue  to  himself,  to  yield  to  the  popular  demand  and 
truckle  to  the  average  taste.  Style,  as  characteristic  creative- 
ness,  as  the  expression  of  lofty  individuality,  is  neither  wanted 
nor  appreciated  by  the  great  mass  of  readers.  Your  thorough- 
going democrat  believes  in  complete  equality,  material  and 
intellectual ;  and  he  who  is  unlike  or  peculiar  is  regarded 
as  either  foolish  or  conceited.  The  great  host  of  self-asser- 
tive, self-sat^fied  people  despise  what  they  cannot  understand, 
or  jest  at  it.  An  illustration  in  hand  is  the  recent  vulgar 
skit,  so  universal  in  the  newspapers,  about  President  Cleve- 
land's hard  lot  in  being  obliged  to  hear  Mr.  Gilder  read  his 
latest  poem.  Such  is  the  bourgeois  temper.  It  may  appre- 
ciate literary  cleverness  or  smartness,  but  it  will  flout  at 
talent  and  genius,  at  all  sustained  and  dignified  discourse 
and  high  poetic  sentiment.  In  the  hurry  of  this  eager,  un- 
quiet, democratic  age,  if  men  read  at  all,  they  will  read  only 
what   appeals   directly  to  them  at  the  first   glance,  what  is 

179 


180  APPENDIX. 

short  to  scrappiness  and  is  startling  staccato  in  expression. 
In  brief,  the  democratization  of  literature  means  a  childish 
impressionism. 

However,  it  is  folly  to  lament  this  tendency,  as  with  the 
pessimists,  or,  as  with  Matthew  Arnold,  to  rely  hereafter  upon 
a  "saving  remnant."  Since  literature  is  not,  and  is  never 
likely  to  be,  as  in  the  past,  a  product  for  the  few,  since  the 
kind  of  writing  which  the  people  demand  is  the  kind  of  writ- 
ing which  will  be  done,  the  only  hope  of  literature  is  an 
educated  public.  I  take  it,  then,  that  the  importance  for  litera- 
ture itself  of  the  right  study  of  literature  in  our  schools  and 
universities  can  scarcely  be  overrated.  But  the  results  of 
present  methods  can  hardly  be  regarded  as  satisfactory.  Many 
of  our  college  graduates  and  most  of  our  high-school  gradu- 
ates read  little  more  than  that  lowest  form  of  literature,  the 
newspaper.  Not  one  in  a  hundred,  in  consulting  his  own 
taste,  takes  up  an  English  classic,  reads  Milton  and  Shake- 
speare and  Wordsworth  simply  because  he  likes  them.  And 
certainly,  for  the  great  majority,  school  instruction  in  litera- 
ture results  in  no  marked  and  permanent  uplifting  of  taste. 
I  am  far  from  saying  that  literary  education  is  a  complete 
failure,  but  I  thoroughly  believe  that  it  is  generally  very  de- 
fective in  spirit  and  method. 

The  chief  difficulty  arises  at  bottom  from  a  lack  of  prac- 
tical realization  of  the  true  end  of  education  as  total  process. 
The  real  object  of  education  may  be  defined  as  a  preparation 
for  that  largest,  freest,  most  original  development  of  the  mind 
which  is  tlie  goal  of  human  evolution.  And  this  development 
ever  has  been,  and  ever  will  be,  distinctly  fivefold :  religious, 
moral,  philosophic,  scientific,  and  artistic,  —  each  in  its  own 
way,  yet  forming  an  interdependent  organism  of  culture.  A 
true  education,  as  a  vestibule  of  life,  must  contain  all  these 
forms  as  co-ordinate ;  every  scheme  of  unprofessional  educa- 
tion ought  to  realize  these  factors,  each  for  its  own  sake,  an 


EDUCATION   AND   LITERATURE.  181 

ideal  wliicli  is  yet  far  before  us.  Just  now  parvenu  science, 
crass,  boorish,  and  overbearing,  as  the  parvenu  generally  is, 
has  got  the  upper  hand  in  education.  Hence  we  see  in  literary 
education,  as  everywhere  else,  the  undue  stress  laid  on  the 
scientific  method,  and  literature  constantly  and  dominantly 
interpreted  from  the  standpoints  of  anthropology,  psychology, 
history,  and  philology.  It  is  certainly  interesting  and  useful 
to  look  at  literary  art  from  other  standpoints  than  its  own ; 
but  for  the  educative  study  of  literature  the  main  point  of 
view  must  always  be  the  purely  aesthetic.  The  prime  object 
is  not  to  inform  the  understanding,  but  to  develop  the  taste, 
to  lead  the  student  spontaneously  to  recognize  the  best  art 
whenever  and  wherever  he  finds  it,  and,  what  is  more,  to  like 
it,  yea,  ev^en  to  love  it.  Not  one  educated  man  in  a  hundred 
knows  good  literature  when  he  sees  it;  he  must  rely  upon 
some  critic,  or  upon  his  knowledge  as  to  the  fame  of  the 
author,  and  straightway  he  will  try  to  discover  the  beauties 
he  has  been  taught  to  expect.  But  this  is  not  genuine  taste ; 
the  deeper  and  real  life  does  not  respond,  and  if  emotion 
there  be,  it  is  wholly  artificial.  The  student  openly  applauds 
what  he  is  taught  to  applaud,  but  in  secret  he  reads  and 
praises  the  meretricious  and  sensational. 

For  the  formation  and  development  of  a  genuine  individual 
taste  the  student  should  be  led  into  direct  and  unbiased  con- 
tact with  the  best  art.  He  should  not  even  know  the  author 
of  the  piece  he  is  reading,  but  by  repeated  study  should  get  a 
thoroughly  original  impression  and  give  expression  to  it  orally 
or  in  writing  before  he  receives  any  instruction.  '  The  free 
initiative  and  spontaneous  interest  must  always  be  led  up  to 
and  waited  for.  I  would  suggest  giving  a  class  a  short  poem 
for  a  half-hour's  original  stud}^,  and  asking  for  written  answers 
to  such  questions  as.  What  lines  please  you  most  ?  Why  ? 
What  is  the  strongest  part  of  the  poem  ?  What  the  weakest  ? 
How  does   it  compare  with  poems  previously  read?     What 


182  APPENDIX. 

would  you  judge  as  to  the  author  from  internal  evidence  ? 
The  student  should  gradually  come  to  a  knowledge  of  author- 
ship from  internal  criticism  alone,  and  the  author  should  always 
be  subordinated  to  his  works.  The  best  art,  which  is  self-in- 
terpreting and  simple  in  its  aesthetic  elements,  should  mainly 
be  used.  After  a  measure  of  taste  for  the  good  art  is  defi- 
nitely formed,  examples  of  poor  and  bad  literature  should  be 
interspersed  for  detection  and  criticism.  If  this  appreciative 
direct  study  of  literature  were  made  the  main  method  through- 
out the  whole  course  of  education,  the  ground  covered  would 
not  be  so  great  as  now,  but  the  results  in  the  improvement  of 
taste,  and  indirectly  in  the  elevation  of  literature  itself,  would, 
I  think,  be  far  more  considerable. 

A  subsidiary  method  which  may  sometimes  be  of  value  in 
sharpening  the  critical  sense  with  advanced  students  is  to  re- 
quire from  them  actual  literary  work.  However,  appreciative- 
ness  is  by  no  means  vitally  connected  with  executive  ability. 
Indeed,  the  literary  critic  and  the  litterateur  are  often  quite 
distinct.  To  enjoy  good  writing  I  no  more  need  to  be  a  writer, 
than  to  be  a  musician  to  enjoy  good  music,  or  a  preacher  to 
enjoy  good  preaching.  The  greatest  fallacy  in  the  education 
of  to-day  is  the  so-called  laboratory  method,  so  far  as  it  sup- 
poses that  we  need  to  become  scientists  in  order  to  appreciate 
science,  and  artists  in  order  to  appreciate  art.  However, 
I  cannot  enlarge  on  this  point  here. 

I  conclude  that  a  general  revival  of  high  art  in  our  demo- 
cratic civilization  is  impossible  until  the  general  taste  be  ele- 
vated, and  this  elevation  must  be  largely  attained  through 
the  improvement  in  scope  and  method  of  artistic  education. 
Goethe  truly  says,  "  Happy  is  the  man  who  early  in  life  knows 
what  art  is ; ''  and  this  insight  into  the  real  nature  of  art  can 
only  be  reached  and  sustained  by  a  constant  familiarity  with 
the  best  art  during  the  whole  period  of  education. 

1JNIVERSITT 


ENGLISH.  67 


Composition  and  Rhetoric  by  Practice, 

Revised  and  enlarged  edition.  With  exercises  adapted  for  use  in  High  Schools 
and  Colleges.  By  William  Williams.  Principal  of  Collegiate  Institute,  Col- 
lingwood,  Ont.    Cloth.    345  pp.    By  mail,  ^i.oo.    Introduction  price,  90  cents. 

THIS  is  an  eminently  practical  book;  not  that  it  excludes  theory, 
but  that  it  gives  prominence  to  practice.  Every  discerning  teacher 
must  have  found  that  little  theory  and  much  practice  is  by  far  the  most 
effective  way  of  teaching  composition,  and  it  is  on  this  maxim  that 
this  book  is  based.  Its  purpose  is  to  ^ive  the  teacher  the  means  of 
carrying  into  effect  such  a  plan  of  teaching,  and  it  therefore  proceeds 
on  the  simple  method  of  laying  down  a  few  principles  at  a  time  and 
then  illustrating  them  with  such  a  number  and  variety  of  exercises  that 
the  pupil  may  fully  master  the  practical  application  of  these  principles 
and  thereby  learn  not  only  to  write,  but  to  write  correctly. 

The  first  edition  of  this  book  was  used  in  a  large  number  of  our 
schools  and  colleges,  and  was  cordially  approved  and  recommended  by 
teachers  of  Rhetoric,  from  who7n  we  quote  the  following:  — 


Wm.  H.  Houghton,  Prof,  of  Rhe- 
toric, Univ.  of  the  City  of  New  York:  I 
can  recommend  the  book  very  highly,  I 
have  decided  to  introduce  it  for  my  class. 

A.  J.  May,  Prin.  of  High  School, 
Lawrence,  Kansas:  The  most  practical 
text  on  the  subject  I  have  examined. 


C.  P.  Richardson,  Prof,  of  English, 
Dartmouth  Coll.:  A  clear  and  modest 
book,  especially  useful  in  its  exercises. 

C.  N.  Sims,  Ex  Chancellor  of  Syra- 
cuse Univ.,  N.  Y.:  It  seems  very  practical 
and  admirably  adapted  to  instruct  in  the 
clear  use  of  the  English  language. 


The  Study  of.  Rhetoric  in  the  College  Course. 

By  J.  F.  Genung,  Professor  of  Rhetoric  in  Amherst  College.   Paper.  32  pages. 
Retail  price,  25  cents. 

'I'^HE  first  part  defines  the  place  of  Rhetoric  among  the  college 
1  studies,  and  the  more  liberal  estimate  of  its  scope  required  by  the 
present  state  of  learning  and  literature.  This  is  followed  by  a  discus- 
sion of  what  may  and  should  be  done,  as  the  most  practical  discipline 
of  students,  toward  the  making  of  literature.  Finally,  a  systematized 
and  progressive  course  in  Rhetoric  is  sketched,  being  mainly  the  course 
already  tried  and  approved  by  the  author's  own  classes. 


W.  O.  Wilkinson,  Author  of  vari- 
ous Chautauqua  text-books :  It  almost  de- 
serves to  be  described  prophetically  as 
an  "  epoch-making  "  production  —  in  its 


own  sphere.  I  have  never  anywhere 
else  seen  so  much  good  sense  expressed 
on  the  subject  of  which  it  treats,  and  the 
style  is  example  and  demonstration. 


ENGLISH. 


69' 


WordswortJis  Prelude. 

An  Autobiographical  Poem.     Annotated  by  A.  J.  George,  A.M.     Cloth.     354 
pages.     Introduction  price,  70  cts.     Price  by  mail,  80  cts. 

THIS  work  is  prepared  as  an  introduction  to  the  life  and  poetry  of 
Wordsworth.  The  poet  himself  said,  "  My  life  is  written  in  my 
works."  The  life  of  a  man  who  did  so  much  to  make  modern  litera- 
ture a  moral  and  spiritual  force  cannot  fail  to  be  of  interest  to  students 
of  history  and  literature. 

Many  who  are  familiar  with  Tintern  Abbey  and  the  Ode  confess 
that  they  are  unable  to  grasp  their  significance  until  shown  the  prin- 
ciples of  life  out  of  which  these  productions  grow,  of  which  they  are 
the  choicest  fruitage.  The  pure,  transparent  and  beautiful  English  ; 
the  grace  and  melody  of  versification  ;  the  sinewy  strength  of  single 
lines,  the  spirit  of  candor  and  lofty  moral  purpose, — these  stamp 
the  Prelude  as  one  of  the  significant  works  of  the  century. 

Special  circular  on  this  book  sent  free  on  application. 


A.  S.  Hill,  Prof,  of  Rhetoric,  Har- 
vard Univ.:  The  book  is  admirably 
adapted  for  the  purpose  the  editor  had  in 
view  —  a  text-book  in  schools. 

J.  W.  Bright,  Associate  in  Eng., 
Johns  Hopkins  Univ.:  In  the  notes  the 
editor  has  attained  unusual  excellence  in 
the  important  feature  of  a  minute  and  ac- 
curate study  of  the  local  history  and  geog- 
raphy of  the  poem. 

Aubrey  de  Vere,  Atahor  of  Critical 
Essays  on  Words-worth:  A  valuable 
edition  ;  to  be  followed,  I  trust,  by  volumes 
embodying  all  the  works  of  that  great 
poet  and  great  man.  The  preface  itself 
cannot  fail  to  promote  largely  an  appre- 
ciation of  Wordsworth's  poetry  in  Amer- 
ica ;  written,  as  it  is,  alike  with  discrimi- 
nation and  with  eloquence,  and  enriched 
by  references  to  earlier  critics. 

Hiram  Corson,  Prof,  of  Eng.  Lit., 
Cornell  Univ.  :  The  notes  are  the  most 
judicious  I  have  met  with  for  many  a  day. 
The  book  ought  to  be  in  every  school  in 
the  land. 


Fanny    G.    Wordsx^orth   {Mrs^ 

William  Wordsworth),  The  Stepping- 
Stones,  Ambleside,  England :  The  de- 
lightful edition  of  the  "  Prelude  "  seems 
to  be  indeed  all  that  we  could  possibly 
wish  it  to  be.  The  notes  are  most  accu- 
rately and  carefully  arranged,  and  in  all 
ways  exceedingly  harmonious  and  suitable. 

Dr.  Horace  Ho^ward  Furness, 
Phil.:  It  is  an  admirable  edition  with  a 
delightful  preface. 

Jul.  H,  Seelye,  Ex-Pres.  Amherst 
Coll.  :  1  have  read  the  preface  and  looked 
over  the  notes  with  great  pleasure,  but 
with  no  surprise  at  the  work  so  well  done. 

The  Critic,  N.  Y. :  The  admirable 
notes,  full  without  being  in  the  least  cum- 
brous, furnish  all  explanation  that  can  be 
needed,  and  are  especially  valuable  in 
faithfully  fixing  the  localities  alluded  to  in 
the  poem. 

The  British  Mail :  The  notes  are 
both  scholarly  and  appreciative.  The 
editing  could  not  have  been  in  better 
hands. 


70 


ENGLISH. 


Rev.  Phillips  Brooks:  I  have 
read  the  delightful  edition  of  the  "Pre- 
lude," and  I  congratulate  the  editor  upon 
his  method  of  dealing  with  the  poet,  and 
his  success  in  making  the  poet's  work 
more  widely  known. 

Dr.  A.  P.  Peabody,  Harvard  Coll.  : 
Permit  me  to  express  my  high  apprecia- 
tion of  the  taste,  skill,  and  substantial 
merit  of  the  editorial  work  in  both  preface 


and  notes,  equally  adapted  to  the  edifica- 
tion of  those  already  familiar  with  Words- 
worth, and  to  the  instruction  of  those 
who  come  fresh  to  the  enjoyment  of  his 
works. 

Hon.  Geo.  F.  Hoar,  M.  C,  Wash- 
tngton :  I  have  read  the  preface  with  great 
delight,  and  see  that  there  is  much  in- 
structive and  stimulant  matter  in  the 
notes.     Wordsworth  seems  inexhaustible. 


Selections  from  Wordsworth, 

Edited,  with  notes,  by  A.  J.  George,  A.M.,  Editor  of  "  The  Prelude."    Cloth, 
452  pages.     Introduction  price,  90  cts.     Price  by  mail,  ^i.oo. 

THESE  Selections  are  chosen  with  a  view  to  illustrate  the  growth 
of  Wordsworth's  mind  and  art j  they  comprise  only  such 
poems  of  each  period  as  are  considered  the  poet's  best  work. 

The  editor,  by  the  light  of  the  Fenwick  notes  (dictated  by  Words- 
worth himself)  and  by  timely  suggestions  of  relatives  and  friends  of 
the  poet,  has  carefully  studied  the  localities  described  in  the  poems^ 
and  has  used  such  material  from  these  sources  as  will  assist  the 
student  in  appreciating  the  spirit  of  Wordsworth's  work. 

The  method  of  annotation  used  in  the  edition  of  the  Prelude^  which 
was  received  with  so  much  favor  by  teachers  of  literature,  has  been 
followed  here ;  a  method  which  insists  upon  the  study  of  literature  as 
literature^  and  not  as  a  field  for  the  display  of  the  technicalities  of 
grammar,  philology  and  poetics. 


London  Saturday  Review  :  This 
work  has  been  received  with  great  favor. 
The  selection  shows  at  all  points  extreme 
care  and  excellent  judgment.  The  book 
certainly  merits  the  approbation  of  all 
Wo^dsworthians. 

London  Journal  of  Education  : 
Mr.  George,  as  he  has  already  proved  by 
his  edition  of  the  Prelude,  is  a  devout  and 
learned  Wordsworthian. 

London  Tablet :  This  collection  is 
an  excellent  one.  Mr.  George  has  done 
his  work  well. 

Mod.    Lang.    Notes :  The  volume 


is  made  with  excellent  taste,  and  the  notes 
are  very  helpful. 

Public  Opinion,  Washington,  D. 
C. :  The  book  takes  its  place  with  the 
best  Wordsworthian  Literature. 

The  Critic,  N.  Y. :  All  students  owe 
a  debt  of  gratitude  to  A.  J.  George  for 
this  collection. 

The  Dial,  Chicago :  Mr.  George's 
best  work  is  upon  the  notes :  and  for  these, 
as  for  those  in  his  previous  volume,  he 
deserves  great  credit.  We  welcome  this 
book  as  one  of  special  value  to  students. 


ENGLISH. 


77 


Introduction  to  Browning. 


By  Hiram  Corson,  LL.D.,  Professor  of  Rhetoric  and  English  Literature  in 
Cornell  University.  Cloth.  348  pages.  Retail  price,  $1.50.  Special  price  for 
class  use. 

THE  purpose  of  this  volume  is  to  afford  some  aid  and  guidance  to 
the  study  of  Robert  Browning's  Poetry,  which,  being  the  most 
complexly  subjective  of  all  English  poetry,  is,  for  that  reason  alone,  the 
most  difficult.  And  then  the  poet's  favorite  art  form,  the  dramatic,  or 
rather  psychologic,  monologue,  which  is  quite  original  with  himself, 
and  peculiarly  adapted  to  the  constitution  of  his  genius,  and  to  the  rev- 
elation of  themselves  by  the  several  "dramatis  personae,"  presents 
certain  structural  difficulties,  but  difficulties  which,  with  an  increased 
familiarity,  grow  less  and  less.  The  exposition  presented  in  the  Intro- 
duction, of  its  constitution  and  skilful  management,  and  the  Argu- 
ments given  to  the  several  poems  included  in  this  volume,  will,  it  is 
hoped,  reduce,  if  not  altogether  remove,  the  difficulties  of  this  kind. 
In  the  same  section  of  the  Introduction  certain  peculiarities  of  the 
poet's  diction,  which  sometimes  give  a  check  to  the  reader's  under- 
standing of  a  passage,  are  presented  and  illustrated. 

The  following  is  the  Table  of  Contents :  — 

I.  The  Spiritual  Ebb  and  Flow  exhibited  in  English  Poetry  from  Chau- 
cer to  Tennyson  and  Browning.  II.  The  Idea  of  Personality  and  of  Art, 
as  an  intermediate  agency  of  Personality,  as  embodied  in  Browning's 
Poetry.  (Read  before  the  Browning  Society  of  London  in  1882.) 
III.  Browning's  Obscurity.  IV.  Browning's  Verse.  V.  Arguments  of 
the  Poems.  VI.  Poems.  (Under  this  head  are  thirty-three  representative 
poems,  the  Arguments  of  which  are  given  in  the  preceding  section.) 

We  publish  a  special  brochure  containing  fnuch  that  will  be  of 
interest  to  students  0/  Browning.     It  is  sent  free  on  application. 


Extract  from  a  letter  from 
Robert  Browning:  Let  it  remain  as 
an  assurance  to  younger  yoets  that  after 
fifty  years  work,  unattended  by  any  con- 
spicuous recognition,  an  over-payment  may 
be  made,  if  there  is  such  another  munifi- 
cent appreciator  as  I  have  been  privileged 
to  find  in  Professor  Corson  ;  in  which 
case,  let  them,  even  if  more  deserving,  be 
t^qually  grateful 


Extract  from  a  letter  from  Rob- 
ert Browning  to  Dr.  Furnivall, 

founder  of  the  Browning  Society  of  Lon- 
don: If  your  society  had  produced 
nothing  more  than  Professor  Corson's  pa- 
per, I  should  feel  abundantly  grateful. 

F.  A.  March,  Prof  in  Lafayette 
Coll. :  An  eloquent  and  acute  book,  i 
hope  it  may  pay  as  well  in  money  as  it 
must  in  good  name. 


78 


ENGLISH. 


Introduction  to  Shakespeare. 

By  Hiram  Corson,  LL.D.,  Professor  of  Rhetoric  and  English  Literature  ic, 
Cornell  University.  Cloth.  400  pages.  Retail  price,  $1.50.  Special  price  for 
class  use. 

THIS  work  indicates  to  the  student  some  lines  of  Shakespearean 
thought  which  will  serve  to  introduce  him  to  the  study  of  the 
Plays  as  plays.  The  general  introductory  chapter  is  followed  by 
chapters  on :  The  Shakespeare-Bacon  Controversy,  —  The  Authen- 
ticity of  the  First  Folio,  —  The  Chronology  of  the  Plays,  — 
Shakespeare's  Verse,  —  The  Latin  and  Anglo-Saxon  Elements  of 
Shakespeare's  English.  The  larger  portion  of  the  book  is  devoted 
to  commentaries  and  critical  chapters  upon  Romeo  and  Juliet,  King 
John,  Much  Ado  about  Nothing,  Hamlet,  Macbeth,  and  Antony  and 
Cleopatra.  These  aim  to  present  the  points  of  view  demanded  for  a 
proper  appreciation  of  Shakespeare's  general  attitude  toward  things, 
and  his  resultant  dramatic  art,  rather  than  the  textual  study  of  the 
plays.     The  book  is  also  accompanied  by  examination  questions. 

This  work  is  a  scholarly  and  suggestive  addition  to  Shakespeare 
criticism,  especially  suited,  by  reason  of  the  author's  long  experience 
as  a  teacher,  for  students'  use,  and  also  valuable,  by  reason  of  its 
independence  of  opinion,  originality,  and  learning,  to  all  lovers  of 
Shakespeare. 

Tlie    Nation :    It    exemplifies    the 
spirit  in  which    Shakespeare  should  be 


studied,  standing  squarely  against  the  met 
aphysical  and  moralizing  perversion,  the 
superfine  intellectuality,  and  all  the  mis- 
conceptions of  dramatic  art  and  confusion 
of  aesthetic  standards  which  came  to  us 
from  Germany.  Altogether,  so  excellent 
a  volume  of  Shakespeare  criticism  has  not 
been  put  forth  by  an  American  scholar  in 
many  a  day.  Teachers  and  students  both 
may  profit  by  it  as  a  model  of  how  to  learn 
in  this  particular  subject. 

The  Tablet,  Londo7i :  It  is  delightful 
reading.  While  purporting  to  be  merely  a 
hand-book  for  students,  it  proves  to  be  a 
commentary  of  a  very  high  order.  It  is  in 
handy  form  and  well  printed  and  can  be 
heartily  recommended  to  all  students  of 
the  world-poet. 


Prof.  T.  W.  Hunt,  Princeton,  in 
Mod.  Lang.  Notes  ;  Its  two  cardinal  merits 
are  suggestiveness  and  intensity.  It  holds 
the  reader  to  the  page  and  makes  him 
ponder  as  he  reads.  Had  we  space  we 
could  collate  not  a  few  paragraphs,  so 
potent  and  trenchant  as  to  be  worth  the 
remembrance  of  every  student  of  dramatic 
art.  The  style  is  stimulating  and  con- 
firms the  principle  that  literary  criticism, 
at  its  best,  is  creative  and  vital.  Prof. 
Corson  deals  with  Shakespeare  as  a 
student  should  deal  with  genius.  This 
method  is  catholic,  sympathetic  and 
psychologic  rather  than  verbal  and  micro- 
scopic. Less  "peeping  and  botanizing" 
and  a  more  profound  inlook  and  a  more 
spacious  outlook  is  what  is  needed  in 
Shakespearian  study,  and  it  is  a  need  that 
Professor  Corson  has  done  much  to  meet 


82  ENGLISH. 


The  Literary  Study  of  the  Bible, 

An  Account  of  the  Leading  Forms  of  Literature  represented  in  the  Sacred  Writings. 
Intended  for  English  Readers.  By  Richard  G.  Moulton.  University  Ex- 
tension Professor  of  English  Literature  in  the  University  of  Chicago  ;  late  Ex- 
tension Lecturer  in  Literature  to  Cambridge  University  (England),  and  to  the 
London  and  the  American  Societies  for  the  Extension  of  University  Teaching. 
Author  of  "  Shakespeare  as  a  Dramatic  Artist,"  "  The  Ancient  Classical  Drama,'' 
etc.     Cloth.     535  pages.     Retail  price,  J?2.oo. 

THIS  work  is  founded  on  the  experience  of  University  Extension 
Courses  delivered  during  three  years  in  various  parts  of  England 
and  America,  in  connection  with  universities  or  with  churches  of  all 
denominations. 

It  deals  with  the  Bible  as  literature,  without  reference  to  theological 
or  distinctively  religious  matters  on  the  one  hand,  or  on  the  other  hand 
to  the  historical  analysis  which  has  come  to  be  known  as  "  the  higher 
criticism."  With  a  view  to  the  general  reader  it  endeavors  to  bring 
out  the  literary  interest  of  Scripture,  so  often  obscured  by  reading  in 
verses  or  short  fragments.  For  the  professed  student  of  literature  it 
has  the  further  purpose  of  discussing  methodically  such  literary  forms 
as  epic,  lyric,  dramatic,  etc.,  so  far  as  they  appear  in  one  of  the 
world's  great  literatures.  It  assumes  that  the  English  Bible  is  a 
supreme  classic,  the  thorough  study  of  which  must  form  a  part  of  all 
liberal  education. 

Contents : 

Introduction  :  The  Book  of  yob,  and  the  various  kinds  of  literary 
interest  represented  by  it.  Book  I :  First  Principles  of  Literary  classi- 
fication illustrated  from  Sacred  Literature.  Book  II :  Lyric  Poetry  of 
the  Bible.  Book  III:  Biblical  History  and  Epic.  Book  IV:  The 
Philosophy  of  the  Bible,  or  Wisdom  Literature.  Book  V :  Biblical 
Literature  of  Prophecy.  Book  VI :  Biblical  Literature  of  Rhetoric. 
Appendix  :  Tables  intended  as  a  manual  for  Bible  reading  from  the 
literary  point  of  view.  [Ready  soon. 

History  and  Literature  in  Grammar  Grades. 

By  J.  H.  Phillips,  Superintendent  Public  Schools,  Birmingham,  Ala.  Paper. 
19  pages.     Retail  price,  15  cents.     (Monographs  on  Education  Series.) 

DISCUSSES  past  and  present  methods  of  teaching  these  branches, 
and  suggests  improvements. 


ENGLISH  LANGUAGE. 


Hyde's  Lessons  in  English,  Book  I.  For  the  lower  grades.  Contains  exercises 
for  reproduction,  picture  lessons,  letter  writing,  uses  of  parts  of  speech,  etc.     40  cts. 

Hyde's  Lessons  in  English,  Book  II.  For  Grammar  schools.  Has  enough  tech. 
nical  grammar  for  correct  use  of  language.     60  cts. 

Hyde's  Lessons  in  English,  Book  II  with  Supplement.     Has,  in  addition 

to  the  above,  118  pages  of  technical  grammar.     70  cts. 
Supplement  bound  alone,  35  cts. 
Hyde's  Advanced  Lessons   in  English.      For  advanced  classes  in  grammar  schools 
and  high  schools.     60  cts. 

Hyde's  Lessons  in  English,  Book  II  with  Advanced  Lessons.     The  Ad- 

vanced  Lessons  and  Book  II  bound  together.     80  cts. 

Hyde's  Derivation  of  Words.     15  cts. 

Mathews's  Outline  of  English  Grammar,  with  Selections  for  Practice. 

The  application  of  principles  is  made  through  composition  of  original  sentences.     80  cts. 
Buckbee's  Primary  Word  Book.      Embraces  thorough  drills  in  articulation  and  in 
the  primary  difficulties  of  spelling  and  sound.    30  cts. 

Sever's  Progressive  Speller.  For  use  in  advanced  primary,  intermediate,  and  gram- 
mar grades.     Gives  spelling,  pronunciation,  definition,  and  use  of  words.    30  cts. 

Badlam's  Suggestive  Lessons  in  Language.    Being  Part  i  and  Appendix  of 

Suggestive  Lessons  in  Language  and  Reading.     50  cts. 

Smith's  Studies  in  Nature,  and  Language  Lessons.    A  combination  of  object 

lessons  with  language  work.     50  cts.     Part  I  bound  separately,  25  cts. 
MeiklejOhn'S  English  Language.     Treats  salient  features  with  a  master's  skill  and 
with  the  utmost  clearness  and  simplicity.     $1.30. 

MeiklejOhn's  English  Grammar.  Also  composition,  versification,  paraphrasing,  etc. 
For  high  schools  and  colleges,     go  cts. 

MeiklejOhn's  History  of  the  English  Language.    78  pages.  Part  III  of  Eng- 

lish  Language  above,  35  cts. 

Williams's  Composition  and  Rhetoric  by  Practice.  For  high  school  and  col- 
lege. Combines  the  smallest  amount  of  theory  with  an  abundance  of  practice.  Revised 
edition.     $1.00. 

Strang's  Exercises  in  English.  Examples  in  Syntax,  Accidence,  and  Style  for 
criticism  and  correction.     50  cts. 

Huffcutt's  English  in  the  Preparatory  School.    Presents  as  practically  as  pos- 

sible  some  of  the  advanced  methods  of  teaching  English  grammar  and  composition  in  the 
secondary  schools.     25  cts. 

Woodward's  Study  of  English.  Discusses  English  teaching  from  primary  school  to 
high  collegiate  work.     25  cts. 

Genung's  Study  of  Rhetoric.  Shows  the  most  practical  discipline  of  students  for  the 
making  of  literature.     25  cts. 

GOOdchild'S  Book  of    Stops.     Punctuation  in  Verse.     Illustrated.     10  cts. 
See  also  our  list  of  books  for  the  study  of  English  Literature. 


D.    C.    HEATH    &    CO.,    PUBLISHERS, 

BOSTON.        NEW  YORK.        CHICAGO. 


ENGLISH  LITERATURE. 

Hawthorne  and  Lemmon's  American  Literature.     A  manual  for  high  schools 

and  academies.     ;f  i .  2  5 . 

Meiklejohn's  History  of  English  Language  and  Literature.    For  high  schools 

and  colleges.  A  compact  and  reliable  statement  of  the  essentials  ;  also  included  in 
Meiklejohn's  English  Language  (see  under  English  Language).     90  cts. 

Meiklejohn's  History  of  English  Literature.     ii6  pages.     Part  iv  of  English 

Literature,  above.     45  cts. 

Hodgkins'  Studies  in  English  Literature.     Gives  full  lists  of  aids  for  laboratory 

method  Scott,  Lamb,  Wordsworth,  Coleridge,  Byron,  Shelley,  Keats,  Macaulay> 
Dickens,  Thackeray,  Robert  Browning,  Mrs.  Browning,  Carlyle.  George  Eliot,  Tenny- 
son, Rossetti,  Arnold,  Ruskin,  Irving,  Bryant,  Hawthorne,  Longfellow,  Emerson, 
Whittier,  Holmes,  and  Lowell.  A  separate  pamphlet  on  each  author.  Price  5  cts.  each, 
or  per  hundred,  $3.00  ;  complete  in  cloth  (adjustable  file  cover,  ^1.50).     $1.00. 

Scudder's  Shelley's  Prometheus  Unbound.     With  introduction  and  copious 

notes.     70  cts. 

George's  Wordsworth's  Prelude.      Annotated  for   high  school  and  college.     Never 
before  published  alone.     80  cts. 

George's  Selections  from  Wordsworth.    i68  poems  chosen  whh  a  view  to  illustrate 

the  growth  of  the  poet's  mind  and  art.    l^r.oo. 

George's  Wordsworth's  Prefaces  and  Essays  on  Poetry.    Contains  the  best  of 

Wordsworth's  prose.     60  cts. 
George's  Webster's  Speeches.      Nine  select  speeches  with  notes.     $1.50. 

George's  Burke's  American  Orations.    Cloth.    65  cts. 

George's  Syllabus  of  English  Literature  and  History.     Shows  in  parallel 

columns,  the  progress  of  History  and  Literature.     20  cts. 

Corson's  Introduction  to  Browning,      a  guide  to  the  study  of  Browning's  Poetry. 
Also  has  33  poems  with  notes.     $1.50. 

Corson's  Introduction  to  the  Study  of  Shakespeare,    a  critical  study  of 

Shakespeare's  art,  with  examination  questions.     $1.50. 

Corson's  Introduction  to  the  Study  of  Milton,    in  press. 
Corson's  Introduction  to  the  Study  of  Chaucer,     ht press. 

Cook's  Judith.      The  Old  English  epic  poem,  with  introduction,  translation,  glossary  and 
fac-simile  page.     $1.60.     Students' edition  without  translation.     35  cts. 

Cook's  The  Bible  and  English  Prose  Style.  Approaches  the  study  of  the  Bible 

from  the  literary  side.     60  cts. 

Simonds'  Sir  Thomas  Wyatt  and  his  Poems.     i68  pages.    With  biography,  and 

critical  analysis  of  his  poems.     75  cts. 

Hall's  Beowulf.      A  metrical  translation.     |i.oo.     Students'  edition.     35  cts. 

Norton's  Heart  of  Oak  Books,      a  series  of  five  volumes  giving  selections  from  the 
choicest  English  literature. 

Phillips's  History  and  Literature  in  Grammar  Grades.    An  essay  showing  the 

intimate  relation  of  the  two  subjects,     15  cts. 

See  also  our  list  of  books  for  the  study  o/the  English  Language. 


C.  HEATH  &  CO.,  PUBLISHER^'i" 

BOSTON.        NEW  YORK.        CHICAGOrr  ^i-  ^  ^~ll^^       ">'   > 


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